The Destiny of Tenacity
by Crystal Manning
Summary: Willis thought he left the darkness behind when he and his best friend transferred to Japan to go to school with the other DigiDestined. But his past followed him into the future in the form of a Digimon corrupted by a virus and the fear in his heart. Will he be able to clean up the mess he made? Or is this the end of the DigitalWorld and Earth? Takari Koumi WillisxOC
1. Chapter 1

**The Destiny of Tenacity**

**Summary-Willis thought he left the darkness behind when he and his best friend transferred to Japan to go to school with the other DigiDestined. But his past followed him into the future in the form of a Digimon corrupted by a virus and the fear in his heart. Will he be able to clean up the mess with his friends? Or is this the end of the DigitalWorld and Earth?**

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******Part 1: ****When the Past and Present Collide **

**Chapter 1**

Darkness surrounded Willis as he tried to run away from the accusing stares, the cruel laughter, and the cold darkness that tried to fill his heart. He didn't know what would happen if he stopped running, but he knew that he couldn't. His heard pounded against his chest as a terrible, echoing voice called his name.

"_Willis_…"

Willis stopped running when everything around him changed. He was standing in a destroyed neighborhood, smoke billowing out of buildings that were now reduced to piles of rubble. Ambulances were on the scene and sirens pierced the air. Fear gripped his heart as tears fell freely down his face and he stared in shock at the leveled neighborhood that he used to live in.

He finally staggered forward and, before he knew it, he was running again, as fast as he could to see if anyone he knew had survived. The paramedics rushed by him with a bleeding body on a stretcher. Willis glanced at the body and sighed with relief when he didn't recognize the person, and instantly felt guilty about the soul.

"Terriermon! Lopmon!" He called as he cupped his hands around his mouth. He listened, trying to hear a response. His answer was the screams of people on the street along with the scream of the ambulance. "Terriermon! Lopmon!" He called again as he looked around himself.

Once again he got no response. Wiping the tears from his eyes he pulled his D-3 from his waist band and stared at the screen as he moved down the sidewalk, making sure he didn't hit anyone as he tried to find his friends. "Please. Please," he whispered as he stared intently at the screen, waiting to see if any of his friends appeared on it.

He knew that most of them had gathered in the same apartment complex that the Kamiya's lived in, which, coincidentally, was the same complex that Willis lived in. He squeezed his eyes shut before he slowly opened them, dropping his D-3 in shock as he stared at the rubble. Around him smoke billowed up into the sky and some fires were being put out by firemen as paramedics searched through the rubble for survivors of the missile.

"Terriermon! Lopmon!" Willis cried out as he ran to the closest pile of rubble and started to throw different sized chunks of concrete away. He frantically pulled the rubble away, not caring that he was tearing up his hands or that he was inhaling smoke and dust and started choking on it. His fingers brushed something soft as he pulled away another large chunk of rubble and it felt like his heart stopped. "Davis!" He chocked out as he looked down at the brown haired boy. His eyes were lifeless and his mouth was frozen in a scream of horror and pain. In his hand was his blue D-3, the screen was cracked and some of the buttons had popped out.

"Davis! Davis, no!" He gasped as his shoulders shook violently, tears resembling a never ending waterfall. "Davis, please! I can't do this alone!" Willis sobbed as he rubbed his face with the ripped sleeve of his shirt. He looked around him when everything started to get dark. "Davis! I need your help! I can't do this alone! I need everyone's help. Don't leave me! Please, don't leave me alone with my mistake!"

"_That's right Willis…this is all your fault…"_ A cold voice echoed in his head.

"No!" Willis cried as he clasped his shaking hands over his ears. "No! No! No!"

"_Yes, Willis…you just admitted it…this is your fault! This is your fault!_" Evil laughter echoed in his head as he tried to block the voice out. "_Thanks to you…this world is mine…this world and the DigitalWorld! I am free, and it's all thanks to you, Willis."_

"No!" Willis screamed. "I didn't do anything! It was a mistake! Just another mistake! I will stop you!"

"_Hahahaha…don't interfere…_"

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**A/N:**

So, the timeline for this story is the Greymon/Parrotmon attack was when Kari and Tai were five and seven (1995). Digimon Adventure was four years later (1999), making Kari nine and Tai eleven. Our War Game (the 2nd part of the movie) was a few months after they beat Apocalymon (2000). Adventure 02 was three years later (2003) making Kari and her friends around twelve/thirteen turning thirteen/fourteen and Tai and his friends around sixteen. The Golden Digimentals (3rd part of the movie) was set during that summer and now this story takes place two years later (2005), Davis, TK, Kari, and Willis are all sophomores in high school, Cody is in sixth grade, Yolei and Ken are juniors. Tai, Izzy, Sora, Matt, and Mimi are college freshmen and Joe is a college sophomore. Got it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Kari, are you ready to go?" Takeru "TK" Takaishi asked once he stepped into the Kamiya household. He looked around, checking to see if she was sitting on the couch reading as she waited for him. TK moved into Kari's neighborhood when he and his mother moved from Heighten View Terrace. Because of this TK always walked Kari to school; it became a tradition once they started their freshman year at Odiaba High School. Now tahat they were sophomores and it felt more like a routine to them.

"I'll be ready in a few, TK," Hikari "Kari" Kamiya shouted back. TK guessed that she was back in her bedroom putting the last of her books in her backpack. He put down his backpack and unzipped it, allowing a orange and tan object to come flying out.

"Sorry about that, Patamon," Tk said to his friend. "But you know that no one can see you. It might cause an uproar."

"I'm fine with it, TK," Patamon responded. "But next time, take out your gym socks."

"I'll try to remember that," TK said with a laugh as Patamon landed on his partner's head. TK and Patamon had been best friends ever since they first met in the DigitalWorld seven years ago. Now they were so close it was like they were friends ever since TK was born.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kari said as she walked out of her bedroom her partner Digimon Gatomon, following closely after her. She smiled as she brushed her brown hair out of her ruby eyes and pinned it back with her red hair clip.

Kari has been TK's best friend ever since she came with them into the DigitalWorld to try and stop the Dark Master's. They formed a close bond, which a couple of people envy and speculate about. Kari is also really close to Gatomon, her partner Digimon who was evil at first but changed her ways when she figured out that Kari was her partner.

"It's all right, it's not like I'm in a rush," TK said with a warm smile. Kari smiled back before the two left the apartment. They walked down the hall, talking about what they expected of their sophomore year at Odaiba High School. Gatomon and Patamon sat quietly in their partners' backpacks, not minding how tight the space they were in was. Before they knew it they arrived at Odaiba High School and they stood, waiting, on the front lawn of the school for their friends to come.

"Can we come out now?" Gatomon asked from Kari's backpack.

"I guess…" Kari said as she looked up at TK.

"It's not like anyone is paying attention," TK said before putting his backpack down and unzipping it. Patamon flew out and landed on a tree branch that was above their heads. Gatomon smoothed her white fur before following Patamon's lead. "It'll be weird having them pretend that they're stuffed animals again."

"I know, TK, but the world isn't ready for Digimon yet," Kari said with a gentle smile. Her smile faded as everything around her turned black and gray and she was standing on a beach. Her breath came out in gasps as evil laughter circled in her head.

"Kari? Hikari?" TK called her name as he gently shook her shoulder. She blinked and looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. "You zoned out, something wrong?"

"No…" she said as she shook her head and forced a smile. "I was just thinking about something. Sorry if I worried you."

"It's all right." TK gave her an understanding smile and she smiled back. His attention strayed as he watched a blond haired boy and a black haired girl step onto the lawn and look around. Something about the blond haired boy struck him as familiar.

"Who're you looking at, TK?" Kari asked as she turned to see where he was looking.

"HEY GUYS!" Davis's voiced filled the air before TK could answer. He smiled at them but it faded when he noticed that he didn't have their attention. He followed their gaze to the boy and the girl and his eyes lit up. "Hey! It's Willis!" He practically shouted. "WILLIS! OVER HERE!"

Willis turned his head when Davis called his name and smiled and waved once he noticed that Davis was waving him over. He said something to the girl before the two walked over to Davis, TK, and Kari. "Hey guys," he greeted them with a warm smile.

"Willis, what're you doing here?" TK questioned. "I thought you were in America."

"I was," Willis agreed with a nod. "But I convinced my mom to take a new job here, so I could see what living in Japan was like. My friend here," he motioned to the girl, "Decided to come with us. Her father switched his job too, once she found out I was coming to Japan."

"Oh, is she your girlfriend?" Davis asked as he pointed.

"Ew, no!" The girl said as she made a face. "I've known Willis practically since I was born!" The look faded as she added, "I'm Crystal Manning, by the way."

"That's a pretty name," Kari commented. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kari Kamiya, this is TK Takaishi, and Davis Motomiya. What grade are you in?"

"10th," Willis and Crystal responded in unison.

"Cool, you'll be in our class," TK said with a smile. "Did you get your schedules yet? We can go show you where the offices are if you want."

"That sounds good, seeing as we don't have a clue where to go in this school," Crystal said as she looked up at it. "Wait a second," she said before turning to Willis. "What're we going to do with _them_?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know, I can't carry them around with me," Willis said in the same tone as concern flashed in his blue eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Kari asked.

"Yeah," Willis said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You see…I couldn't leave Terriermon and Lopmon at home so…I had to bring them with me. And I don't think it would be smart carrying them around school."

TK, Kari, and Davis started at him before looking to see Crystal's reaction. She had a somewhat bored look on her face as she adjusted the straps to her backpack. Willis had a confused look on his face so he finally asked, "What?"

"She knows about Digimon?" Davis asked as he pointed in Crystal's direction. She glared at him once he asked the question and he flinched under her hard gaze.

"Of course she does," Willis said with a laugh. "Show 'em."

"Fine, he needs to be let out anyway," Crystal said as she pulled her backpack off of her back. Once she unzipped it a blue bomb seemed to fly out of it and start flapping in the air. The Digimon had big blue eyes and a cute smile. His front two legs had two crystals that looked like armor while crystals seemed to stick out of his back legs. His wings sparked every time he flapped them. "This is Icemon."

"Nya! Finally I'm free!" Icemon exclaimed as he rubbed his face with one paw and blinked.

"Get down, Ice!" Crystal hissed as he immediately stopped flying and rested on her shoulder. "We don't want to give you away."

"Wow, I've never seen that Digimon before," TK commented as Davis reached out and tugged on Icemon's wing. Icemon glared and bopped Davis on the head with his tail as Kari giggled. "How'd you get him?"

"He came to me, actually," Crystal said as she affectionately scratched Icemon's head. "About the same time Willis got Gummymon and Kokomon." She let her voice trail off as pained look came to Willis's eyes. "Sorry," she apologized.

"It's all right, it's in the past," Willis said with a smile. The be;ll rang, breaking the awkawrds silence.

"Come on, we can show you where your classes are," Kari said as she stepped forward. "Terriermon, Lopmon, and Icemon can stay with Gatomon and Patamon during the day."

"Sounds great," Willis said as he opened his backpack and Terriermon and Lopmon came out, instantly jumping into the tree to talk to Patamon and Gatomon. Icemon followed a couple seconds later. "Let's go. I can't wait to see what the school is like."

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**A/N: To picture Icemon, think of Glaceon but with wings. When I first heard of Glaceon I realized that he (or she depending on your preference) was close to what I thought Icemon would look like. Also, I know there all ready is an Icemon however I like this Icemon better because he's mine, lol.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

TK, Kari, and Davis walked with Willis and Crystal to the offices. Davis was rambling about a soccer game he had recently and Willis hung on every word, just to be polite. Crystal had an annoyed look on her face while TK and Kari ignored him, having heard the story numerous times and having been there to witness it.

"So," Kari interrupted Davis's rambling. "Do you two play any sports? Do any after school activities?"

"Mhm. I like to draw, dance, and play soccer," Crystal told her as she looked over at her. "And Willis plays basketball."

"What kind of dancing do you do?" Kari asked, genuinely interested. "I do ballet myself and I'm also part of the Cheerleading team here."

"Mainly Hip Hop but I do a little bit of everything. I've tried Acrobatic once," Crystal told her. "It's a lot of hard work, especially Acrobatic dancing, but it is worth it to know that you got the moves perfect in the end."

"I know what you mean." Kari nodded in understanding. "Ballet may look easy but it's actually pretty hard. I've been doing it for years so I guess you can say I got pretty good at it."

"Pretty good?" TK repeated. "Kari, you're the best one on your squad. Don't put yourself down about your abilities."

Davis glared at the two once they stopped in the offices. Willis and Crystal got their schedules and were having a little bit of trouble trying to find out where their classes were, especially when the hallway started to fill with students rushing to their classes. Once they entered their classroom Kari and TK took their seats, which were next to each other, as Davis took his seat two desks over.

"Window or aisle seat?" Willis asked as he turned to Crystal.

"What, are we on and airplane or something? You know, Willis, you're _way_ too polite for your own good," Crystal said as she shook her head and chuckled. "Sometimes I wonder why I hang around with a goody-two-shoe like you."

"Because you need someone to keep you out of trouble," he responded with a laugh. "Especially when a rambunctious Digimon like Icemon is around. He always has to stir up some type of trouble."

"Hey, have you met Terriermon! _He's_ the definition of rambunctious," Crystal said as she gave his arm a little punch. The two quickly sat down when the teacher walked into the room, putting his briefcase on the desk. He looked around the room with what seemed like a bored look on his face.

"Class, we have two new students joining us this year," he said in monotone as everyone turned back to look at them. "They are from America."

"Hello, my name is Willis," he said politely as he stood and bowed. "It's very nice to meet you all." He nudged Crystal as she rolled her eyes before standing.

"My name's Crystal." She paused and added, "What he said," before sitting back down.

"Welcome to Odaiba High School," the teacher said in the same monotone drawl. "Please take off your hat, they're not allowed."

Crystal grumbled before tugging her hat off of her head. Davis raised an eyebrow at her hair: it was shoulder length and black and it harbored random cerulean blue streaks. Her bangs swooped so it partly covered her left eye.

Willis seemed genuinely interested in what they were learning while Crystal sat slumped against her desk, boredom radiating off of her like a heater in a cold room. TK, Kari, and Davis showed them around the school the rest of the day, which Willis enjoyed: partly because he had the attention from most of the girls in his grade and partly because all of the teachers seemed to love him. Crystal hated her first day of school because the girls hated her for being Willis's friends and she got into three fights, resulting in getting a detention after school, which she obviously skipped.

"Getting a detention on your first day at a new school, that must be a record," Willis said with a teasing smile.

"Shut up, they had it coming to them anyway," Crystal said as she shoved him. "Can we go see our Digimon now? I want to make sure Icemon didn't get into any more trouble."

"They should be in the Computer Lab," Kari said as she looked around herself to make sure no one heard. The group took a left turn and made their way to the Computer Lab, constantly checking to make sure they weren't being followed. Finally they entered the Computer Lab and saw two other people there.

"Oh, it's good to see you two again," Willis said brightly.

"Willis! I heard that you were back! It's great to see you," Yolei said happily as she gave him a brief hug. "Oh, are you his girlfriend?"

"Why do people keep asking me that?" Crystal asked in exasperation. "I'm _not_ his girlfriend!"

"She's my temperamental friend, she's from America too," Willis explained.

"The name's Crystal," she grunted.

"I'm Yolei and that's Cody," she said as she pointed to the small boy. "Not to be rude, but why are you two here?"

"We-" Crystal started.

"Our parents are partners in their job and it transferred them here. We've always wanted to know what it was like living in Japan so we came with them," Willis interrupted her, shooting her a look. She kept her mouth shut as she shot him a look back. Davis looked at them in slight suspicion before he caught DemiVeemon who had jumped into his arms.

"Willis, it's about time you got here!" Terriermon practically shouted as he landed on Willis's head. Lopmon flew out of a cubby and landed in Willis's outstretched arms.

"Nya. Do you have anything to eat? The food here is disgusting!" Icemon commented as he flew down from the fan and landed on Crystal's shoulder, affectionately rubbing his head against her cheek.

"You didn't get caught did you?" Crystal asked as she looked at him closely.

"I made sure they didn't," Gatomon said as she, Patamon, Upamon, and Poromon also came out of hiding. "Which was hard seeing as Icemon was so interested in what the students were doing. I had to risk two of my nine lives to make sure he didn't get caught."

"Thank you," Crystal said before looking at Icemon to see that he had a sheepish look on his face. "How many times have I told you to listen to what I say?"

"But I'm _bored_ here!" Icemon protested. "I want to do _something_!"

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty to do in the DigitalWorld," Kari reassured him as she scratched his head.

"I get to go home?" He asked as his eyes started to shine.

"DigitalWorld?" Crystal repeated. "That's where Icemon came from?"

"You've never been to the DigitalWorld before?" Davis asked.

"Davis, not _everyone_ knows that there is such thing as a DigitalWorld," Kari told him calmly. "Remember those other DigiDestined from around the world? They've never been to the DigitalWorld until our battle against MaloMyotismon."

Davis closed his mouth and glared at the floor. He didn't want to admit that Kari was right, even though he admired her for being so understanding. That's one reason why he liked her so much.

"How do we get to the DigitalWorld from here?" Willis asked. His answer was a purple glow coming from his pocket and a blue-ish silver glow coming from Crystal's. They pulled their Digivices out of their pockets and saw it transform into D-3's right in front of their eyes. Willis's was white with purple grips while Crystal's was silver with blue grips.

"Cool," Terriermon said as he and Lopmon leaned forward to get a closer look at the Digivice.

"Hey look guys, the Gate is open," Cody pointed out as he turned to the computer.

"All right!" Davis cheered. "Next stop, the DigitalWorld!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"But seriously, how're we going to get to the DigitalWorld from-" Crystal started.

"Everyone ready? DigiPort Open!" Davis said as he held up his D-3. Bright white light came out of the screen and Crystal and Willis felt themselves being pulled off of their feet and surging forward. The next thing they knew they were standing in a forest, the faint sounds of rushing water was in the background.

"So _this_ is the DigitalWorld," Willis said as he looked around. "From what you guys have been telling me evil Digimon have been running all over the place."

"There were, but we cleared the whole mess up," TK told him. "After the fight with MaloMysotismon things calmed down. We don't have to keep coming back, but it's a great place to come to when we want to relax."

"Hey, shouldn't Ken be here?" Davis asked as he looked around.

"Who's Ken?" Crystal questioned.

"I think I heard of him from Izzy," Willis said. "He's that Digimon Emperor, the one I was telling you about. He had something to do with the Dark Rings and Dark Spirals."

"He's not the Digimon Emperor anymore," Kari told them. "He's changed a lot and he's part of our team now." A troubled look crossed her face and TK noticed it instantly, giving her a look as if asking what was wrong. She noticed it and said slowly, "I've been thinking...you know those other times we were able to come back to the DigitalWorld?"

"Kari, you don't think there's another enemy, do you?" Yolei asked.

"I didn't say that. But there must be a reason as to why we're still allowed to come back."

"To show Willis and Crystal the DigitalWorld. What other reason could there be?"

"Kari's right, actually," Crystal said slowly. "You can't underestimate what's out there. For all we know we could be standing in a trap by an enemy right now. We can't let our guard slip for a second while we're here. Not all Digimon are evil by choice, they were created that way." She paused and hesitated before continuing. "From what Izzy said, Digimon never die, right? So what makes you think that the Dark Masters, MaloMyotismon, and even...Diaboromon are gone?" She glanced at Willis when she mentioned Diaboromon's name to see his reaction. His facial expression stayed the same: full of curiosity.

"But...don't you think we would've known if the Dark Masters, MaloMyotismon, or Diaboromon were back?" TK questioned. "Diaboromon especially." He then turned to Willis. "You remember, he hacked into the Internet. I'm pretty sure we would be able to tell if he were back. The last time he came back he sent out pictures of the Original Digidestined so he could have his revenge on us."

"That's true..." Willis said as he lowered his eyes.

TK noticed his discomfort and quickly said, "I didn't mean to bring it up if it-"

"No, it's all right," Willis interrupted him. "I have to live with my mistake."

Everyone stood in uncomfortable silence, until Davis boasted, "We can take them all on, no problem!"

"Beat whom, Davis?" They turned to see Ken and Wormon stepping out from behind some trees.

"The Dark Masters, MaloMyostimon, and Diaboromon," Davis replied promptly.

"Are they back?" He asked, tensing visibly.

"No, but they could be. What other reason do we have for being able to come back here?" Kari asked him. He nodded in understanding before his gaze shifted to Willis and Crystal. "That's Willis and Crystal, they're from America," Kari told him. "They live in Japan now."

"So _you_ were the Digimon Emperor," Crystal blurted out as her eyes narrowed at him.

"I'd rather not remember that, if you don't mind," Ken said shyly as he lowered his head.

"Sorry," she apologized as Icemon flew out of her arms.

"Nya. She has a talking problem, she doesn't think before she speaks. She doesn't think when she does anything either. Come to think of it she doesn't think at all," Icemon said cheerfully.

"Hey, we don't need any comments from the Peanut Gallery!" Crystal said in an annoyed tone, although there was a smile on her face. "At any rate I feel that we should go talk to Izzy and the rest of the DigiDestined about this. I may not be right, but it _is_ better to be safe than sorry."

"She has a point," Willis agreed with a sigh.

"What? We have to leave all ready?" Terriermon cried out.

"But we just got here," Lopmon said with a sigh. "But if we have to leave, I understand perfectly."

"Ok, let's go back," Davis said with a huge sigh as he turned back towards the TV. He held up his Digivice and bright light erupted from it again before they were pulled off of their feet and flung forward. Next thing they knew they were back in the Computer Lab.

"We can head over to my house," Kari said as she started to send an e-mail on her D-Terminal. "We have plenty of room there and my mom loves it when the house if full of kids."

The group made their way as fast as they could to the Kamiya household. Willis paused outside, looking around the apartment complex. He quickly followed them into the elevator and they all stood silent as they waited for it to bring them to the floor that they needed to stop at. Kari lead everyone into the Kamiya apartment but Willis stopped outside, looking out at the view. As he touched the handle on the door to get into the apartment everything around him suddenly turned black.

"No," he gasped when he blinked and realized he was standing on the ground, the destroyed complex was in front of him. He looked around him before noticicing a fallen Lopmon and Terriermon on the ground, covered in scratches and bruises. "No! Terriermon! Lopmon!" He cried out as he ran towards them, but every time he took a step it seemed like they got farther away from him.

"Willis!" Willis blinked and sighed softly when everything went back to normal. He looked up and noticed that Kari was looking at him in concern. "Are you ok?" She asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kari," he responded with a nod and a semi forced smile.

"Are you sure, you know you can tell me anything."

"Yes, I know. And I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"That's just one thing I can't help but do, Willis."

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**A/N: Ok so, you guys are reading but you're not reviewing. Please leave a review, whether you liked it, hated it, you have a suggestion, or you have some criticism. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I'm still not convinced that we're still allowed to go to the DigitalWorld because of evil Digimon," Davis said as he spun around in the swivel chair.

"You said so yourself: Digimon never die," Willis pointed out. "So who says that they're not out there?"

"Look, the only way Diaboromon can be there is if you tried to create him again!" Crystal said as she rolled her eyes. Willis glared at her and she glared at him back.

"That's not true," Yolei said, breaking the tension. "Diaboromon came back a year after MaloMyotismon was defeated and Willis had nothing to do with it."

"Brains and beauty is a great combination," Willis said in appreciation as Yolei blushed but smiled at the compliment. Crystal rolled her eyes as Davis growled under his breath. TK and Kari laughed a little at the childishness of their friends before Tai burst into the room, followed shortly by Izzy, Sora, Joe, and Matt. "Izzy, it's nice to finally meet you in person," Willis said as he stood and shook Izzy's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you too," he said with a bright smile. "And this is my friend Crystal," he said as he motioned her over.

"It's an honor to meet you, Koushiro-kun," Crystal said as she shook her head. Willis raised an eyebrow when he noticed that her face turned a light shade of red. "I've heard a lot about you from Willis."

"Good things I hope," Izzy said as he shook her hand. "And call me Izzy. Kari told me that you had a theory about the DigitalWorld."

"That's true," she said with a nod as he went over to Kari's desk to power up his laptop. "Kari was telling me about how you guys always had a reason to come to the DigitalWorld. It's been a couple of years since you defeated MaloMyotismon, yet we could still go back to the DigitalWorld. They don't think something is out there, but an enemy could be out there hiding, waiting to strike when we're the most vulnerable."

"I've been thinking that myself," Izzy said as he spun around in the swivel chair to look at all of the DigiDestined who were sitting. "That's why I've been checking things with Gennai constantly to see if he knew anything or if there was a new prophecy."

"Did he say anything?" Tai questioned as he stared at Izzy.

"He said that there's nothing worry about," Izzy responded. "But that doesn't mean that Crystal isn't right," he added as he looked in her direction. "To be safe, I told Gennai and some other Digimon to keep a look out incase there is someone or something out there."

"And if there is a new enemy?" Sora asked. "What can we do? We won't be able to leave our classes that easy."

"Yeah, I can't believe our teachers would let us go into the DigitalWorld during an exam," Joe added as he nodded in agreement.

"We can stop anything that's out there," Davis boasted.

"But Davis, what if there is something out there that we can't beat by ourselves?" TK pointed out.

"We're pretty safe for now," Izzy told them. "But, like I said, I'll keep an eye on things and alert you all if I hear anything."

"If this meeting is over I have to go to band practice," Matt said as he stood. "TK, do you want a ride back to your place?"

"No, I'll stay here a little bit longer," TK said as he shook his head. "Tell Dad I said hi."

"Will do, see you buddy." Matt waved to everyone and left the room.

"I have to leave too. I have this huge medical test coming up," Joe said as he stood.

"Tennis tournament," Sora said with an apologetic smile before the two also left.

"So I guess it's just us." Izzy looked over at Terriermon, Lopmon, and Icemon who were still flying around in the air. "I see that Lopmon made a full recovery."

"Yes," Willis said with a nod. "I made sure nothing happened to either of them once I got Kokomon back."

"And Willis was being a little too overprotective," Lopmon said as he landed on Willis's head. "But I know that it's for our well being."

"Prodigious! I've never seen a Digimon like that before," Izzy exclaimed as he looked at Icemon. "I presume he's your partner?" He asked as he turned to Crystal and she nodded. "How long has he been with you?"

"Umm...since about Willis go this Digimon I think," Crystal responded with a shrug as Icemon landed on her shoulder.

"You don't even know when we first met!?" Icemon cried out.

"You don't expect me to remember the exact date, do you?" Crystal asked him. "Especially when my mind is preoccupied to make sure _you_ don't into too much trouble!"

"So I guess it's a safe bet to say that your Digivices have been upgraded to D3s," Izzy continued, ignoring the bickering pair.

"Yeah, they changed today," Willis agreed. "Kari and TK wanted to take us to the DigitalWorld. Before we went there our Digivices changed into these." He held his up and Izzy looked it over.

"Well, that means you were chosen to join that team for a reason," Tai said as he crossed his arms.

"Which is making me worry about our new enemy. We wouldn't need more people for the team if there wasn't a darker enemy out there," Ken spoke up.

"Ken does have a point, Izzy," Kari said to him. "Not that we don't appreciate that they are here, but there has to be a reason as to why they were chosen to join us."

"Like I said before I'll look into it," Izzy said as he packed up his computer. "But there's no use in worrying about nothing. I say we just go on with our lives and wait for something to happen. That's the best we can do."

"All right, I have to head home," Willis said as he stood. "Mom's probably swamped with unpacking." He turned to Crystal and asked, "Do you want me to walk you to your place?"

"Thanks for the offer, but there's no need," Crystal said. "My apartment is just a few floors down from here."

"Ok, bye guys." Willis waved at everyone before pulling Terriermon out of the air, into his arms, and leaving. He talked to Mrs. Kamiya for a couple of minutes before leaving the entire apartment complex. He walked about ten minutes before getting to his own apartment complex. He rode up the elevator, making sure to keep a firm hold on Terriermon the entire time. They finally got into their apartment and Willis let go of Terriermon, allowing him and Lopmon to go racing around the spacious apartment. "Hey mom, how was your day?" He asked once he spotted her sitting on the couch.

"Tiring," she said as she smiled at him once he sat down, "But productive. I got the furniture out, obviously, and there are plates and silverware in the kitchen." She ruffled Willis's hair as she said this. "How was your day, honey?"

"It was great!" He responded, his eyes shining. "I got a lot of new friends and I fit in really easily, it was like I never left Colorado."

"How did Crystal like the school?" She asked as Willis laughed.

"She got in trouble, which doesn't surprise me," he responded. "But she seems to like it. I don't really know." He glanced around and said with a chuckle, "Do you want to order something?"

"That sounds like a good idea right now," she admitted.

"Pizza?"

"I should've seen that coming."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Where is this place?" Willis asked as he, Terriermon, and Lopmon looked around the place. They were standing on the beach as the water lapped at their feet, but something was wrong. The water was gray, and everything around them was black and gray. Willis looked down and noticed he was black and gray also. Frowning, he checked to see if Terriermon and Lopmon were the same way. They were.

"I don't know, Willis," Lopmon responded.

"Are we in the DigitalWorld?" Willis asked as he looked around.

"Believe it or not, the DigitalWorld is in color, it's not a black and white movie like this place," Terriermon responded as he looked up at Willis. "We're somewhere else. I don't even know if this _is_ the DigitalWorld."

"Well, we came through the computer to get here so it has to be the DigitalWorld, right?" Willis's tone was uncertain and he saw the same thing in his Digimon's eyes. He tensed when he suddenly felt cold and everything around him, if possible, got darker. He could sense something around him so he turned around, frantically searching for something or someone who was making him uneasy. "Who's there?"

"Hahahahaha…" The laughter echoed around him as he continued to look around to see who was there. "You can't stop me. I'm getting stronger. None of you can stop me."

"Willis!" Terriermon gasped as he tugged on Willis's pants leg.

"Willis, the darkness!" Lopmon said as he tugged on Willis's other pants leg. "I can feel the darkness. I want to get out of here."

"You can't escape me!" The harsh voice surrounded them as Willis fell to his knees and covered his ears with his palms as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't _interfere_!"

Everything turned black…

"Did you sleep well, honey?" Willis's mother asked as she set his breakfast in front of him. Terriermon and Lopmon eagerly started eating their breakfast as Mrs. Nelson smiled at them.

"Not really," Willis responded as he picked at his toast. "But it's because I'm not used to living in a new place yet. I'm sure I'll get better sleep tonight." He ignored the looks that Terriermon and Lopmon were giving him as he took a bite out of his cinnamon toast. _'I don't want to tell Mom about my nightmares it'll only make her worry more than she worries now. And I don't want to be the reason for that.'_

"Don't you just love it here?" Mrs. Nelson asked as she beamed. "I'm glad you convinced me to move here. Everyone is so nice and I met a lot of our neighbors."

"I like how peaceful the city is," Willis admitted. "And the scenery is really beautiful too. I like the flowers a lot, they're this interesting shade of pink." He pushed his plate away and stood. "I'm going to school early to sign up for some after school activities. I'll call you if I'm late for any reason," he said to her questioning glance.

"All right," Mrs. Nelson said with an approving nod. "Do you have to take Terriermon and Lopmon with you? I was hoping they'd be able to help me clean."

"Mom, you _know_ that these two would cause more disaster if they tried to clean," Willis said with a laugh as he put his school books into his backpack before reaching for Terriermon and Lopmon and putting them inside, making sure they had enough room before he closed it. "I gotta go. I'll see you later." He paused to give her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the apartment.

He couldn't help but smile at the beautiful scenery that surrounded him as he walked down the street. Some people in shops greeted him and returned the greeting cheerfully. He had to stop on his way once because Terriermon was fighting his way out of Willis's backpack.

"Hey Willis, wait up," Kari called as he slowed down his pace so she could walk with him. "How do you like Japan so far?"

"It's a really great place. The scenery is beautiful and the citizens are very nice," he responded. Kari studied his face as they continued walking to school. His voice was laced with happiness while his eyes showed uncertainty.

"What's bothering you?" Kari asked as her eyes narrowed slightly. Willis gave her a questioning look. "I can tell something is wrong. If you don't want to talk about it I'll understand, but I just want you to know you can trust me."

"I know I can, Kari," Willis said as his eyes focused on the ground. His eyes narrowed and he let out his breath through his nose before he lifted his head and locked ocean blue eyes with ruby red ones. "I had this…dream last night. Well, more of a nightmare really. Terriermon, Lopmon, and I were in this world. I didn't know if it was the DigitalWorld or not, but it was all in black and white. I felt cold, helpless, and vulnerable while I was there. I could feel…something surging through me and I sensed that someone was watching me. And I heard this voice…It said 'You can't stop me. I'm getting stronger. None of you can stop me.' Everything that happened after that is a blur but I remember specifically that everything turned black as I got colder. And then I woke up." he paused to see her reaction: she had a thoughtful look on her face as she listened to what he was saying. "What do you think it means?"

"The place…I know that place well, unfortunately," Kari said slowly. "That was the DigitalWorld, but a different part. It's called the Dark Ocean."

"Dark Ocean?" Willis repeated as they stopped by the entrance to their school. "Wait, how do you–?"

"Back when I was in…seventh grade I was called to the Dark Ocean. It could be because of the things I was hiding or it could be because the darkness needed light to defeat it. I don't know the real reason but whatever the reason was it brought me there. It's a bad place to be, you feel like you're never going to be happy again. I would've been stuck there if TK, Patamon, and Gatomon didn't come t rescue me. All I know is only a couple of people have been there and the only reason they were sent is because the darkness that was inside them connected with that world," Kari explained as she kept her eyes locked with Willis's.

"But…you're the DigiDestined of Light, you can't have darkness in you," Willis protested.

"You can't just judge me by my Crest, Willis," Kari said as she smiled a little. "Everyone has a little bit of Darkness inside of them. Even you. There has to be a reason as to why you were called there." She paused and took a breath before asking, "Is there something you're not telling me? Like I said you can trust me with anything."

"No," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I have nothing I need to say." He put his backpack on the ground and let Terriermon and Lopmon come out and instantly take shelter in the trees. "But thanks for listening," he added as he pulled a rose from his backpack and held it out to her as he smiled.

"Willis, it's beautiful," she gushed as she took it from him, "Thank you," she added as she gave him a hug. "Now, am I the only one you told about this?"

"You're the only one I talk to so far," he responded.

"Not even Crystal?" She asked as she let Gatomon out of her backpack.

"She'd make a joke about it," he said as he averted his gaze. "Or she would tell me it was just a dream and that' there's nothing to worry about." He paused and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"You two just seem really close, that's all," she responded with a smile.

**-TK's POV-**

"Takeru." I stood when someone called my name. It wasn't Kari's, and she's the only one I allow to call me Takeru. I noticed that Crystal was heading my way and she had a questioning look on her face. "Do you have time to talk?" She asked once she stopped and looked up at me.

"Sure," I said with a nod as I pulled some books out of my locker and closed it before turning back to her. "Anything specific?"

"What's your relationship with Hikari?" Crystal asked as she kept her eyes locked on mine face as I shifted under her gaze.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my neck. I cursed on the inside when I felt heat rise up into my face.

"Curious," she responded with a small smirk. "You like her, don't you?" When he didn't respond she said, "I'll take your silence as a yes."

"What makes you so curious about whether or not I…like…Kari," I stammered as I lowered my gaze for a second before I looked back up at her.

"Your friendship, it borderlines the way a boyfriend and girlfriend act around each other," she said with a shrug before she shoved her hands into her cargo shorts pockets. "You two seem like really great friends, Let me guess, you tell each other everything, you always hang out with each other, right?"

"Yes," I responded with a nod, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"Just as I thought." Her smile was really starting to make me uncomfortable as her eyes bored holes into my head. I could feel my face turning redder under her gaze, which made her smirk grow.

"Why do you want to know about our friendship?" I repeated as I finally looked into her eyes once more.

"Because I need to know how strong it is," she responded. "As long as your friendship doesn't break you have a better chance of defeating whatever is out there. From what I've heard Hikari is the strongest one of your group, whether you want to admit it or not. Keep an eye on her and keep her safe, Takeru." She paused and asked, "Can you do that?"

"Yes," I responded with a confident nod.

"Good." She looked up as the bell rang. "See ya in class," she said with a wave before being swallowed up by the students who rushed around trying to find their classes. My attention strayed as I saw Kari walk into the hall. I was going to call out to her when I noticed Willis was by her side. I felt a pang of something hit me hard as the two started laughing and Crystal's words revolved in my head.

_"Keep an eye on her and keep her safe, Takeru. Can you do that?"_

_'This is going to be hard,'_ I thought with a sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"What's wrong Izzy? I'm missing my soccer practice because of this!" Davis said as he rushed into the Computer Room after school and closed the door behind him.

"If Izzy called us here for something than it has to be more important than your soccer practice!" Kari said to him in a stern tone, not sounding mean, but more like a disappointed mother. Crystal snickered at the deflated look that came onto Davis's face before he moved over to see what Izzy was pointing out on the computer.

"Tentomon brought this to my attention last night," Izzy started once he had everyone's attention. "There are cocoon like Digimon named Chrysalimon showing up all over the DigitalWorld and destroying it."

"After all we've done we have to go around cleaning the DigitalWorld again?" Davis asked in exasperation. "Man, when are we ever going to get a break?"

"I don't know much about these Digimon," Izzy continued, ignoring Davis, "But I do know that they can do a lot of damage if they're all together so we're going to need you guys to take them out as soon as possible."

"How hard can that be?" Crystal asked as she smiled at Icemon.

"Like I said I don't know much about these Digimon so it's hard to say how strong they are," he said to them. "In any case it would be easy to capture them and make sure they don't Digivovle."

"All right, that's easy! Perfecto!" Yolei said as she pumped her fist into the air. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"I wonder why these Digimon are doing this," Kari said more to herself than to any one else. "There's nothing evil around that can be controlling them."

"Remember, some Digimon are born evil," TK pointed out as he stood next to her.

"I don't believe that, but we do have to save the DigitalWorld," Kari agreed as she held up her Digivice. TK nodded as he held his up. "Everyone ready? DigiPort Open!"

"Everything seems fine here," Davis said as he looked around the clearing that they were standing in before the group started walking away from the TV and started to explore than lands.

"Looks can be deceiving," Willis muttered automatically. He sensed someone staring at the back of his head and quickly brushed the feeling away as he asked no one in particular, "So what do Chrysalimon look like anyway?"

"We haven't seen them before, but Izzy said they look like cocoons so we can start from there," Cody suggested as the trees started to surround them and get thicker with every few feet.

"Or we can start with whatever that is heading straight towards us!" Yolei said in a frightened voice as she pointed with a quivering finger. They turned to look at what she was point at and saw a big blue mass with a tip heading right at them.

"Bunny Blast!" Terriermon called out as he shot a green and black energy ball from his mouth. It bounced off the Digimon as it continued to fly at them.

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon called as he, too, opened his mouth and shot out crystal shards at the enemy. That attack bounced off too and the ground dodged out of the way of the attacking Digimon. It stopped moving and opened parts of it's body so arms with sharp ends stuck out. On the bottom looked something like a bee stinger and a red horn came out from inbetween it's eyes.

"That must be Chrysalimon!" Davis said through clenched teeth.

"I hate bugs," Yolei said as she backed away.

"Data Crusher!" Chrysalimon called out before launching a yellow ball of energy from it's mouth. They all managed to move out of the way and the ball hit a tree, making a hissing sound fill the air as a section of the tree that was hit burned away and smoke rose into the air.

"Oh man, there's no way we're going to beat this guy at the Rookie level!" Davis said as he pulled out his Digivice. "Veemon?"

"I'm ready!" He said as he turned to face the Crysalimon as Davis's DigiVice started to beep. "Veemon digivolve to...ExVeemon!"

"You guys have to Digivolve too!" Cody said as he turned to the other Digimon.

"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon."

"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon."

"Armadillomon digivolve to...Ankylamon."

"Hawkmon digivolve to...Aquilamon."

"Lopmon, Terriermon," Willis said as he turned to his Digimon. "Are you up for a battle?"

"Mhm," the two responded in unison before rising into the air and being surrounded by a green and purple bubble.

"Terriermon digivolve to...Gargomon!"

"Lopmon digivolve to...Turuiemon!"

"Let's go Icemon!" Crystal said as Icemon jumped into the air happily.

"Icemon digivolve to...Tundramon!" In Icemon's place Tundramon was flapping his wings in the air. He had a lean muscular body that had brown fur and light blue stripes running up and down his body. His wings were so bright a blue now that they almost looked white and his tail split into three with a sharp crystal at the end. "Tundra Claw!" He called out before flying forward and raking his hind legs on Chrysalimon.

"Unconnect Buster!" Chrysalimon reached out with one of his razor blade arms and slashed Tundramon. He cried out in pain as he was sent flying back. He glowed blue before De-Digivolving back into Icemon, who landed safely in Crystal's arms.

"Oh no! Icemon!" She cried out as she looked him over.

"Nya, I'm fine," he said weakly as he smiled at Crystal. "I just need to rest."

"He turned Icemon back into a rookie by one swipe!" Angewomon cried out in shock as ExVeemon, Ankylamon, and Aquilamon charged forward with a battle cry. "No! Wait!"

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon called out before thrusting his fist forward as a beam of energy flew out. It hit Chrysalimon and sent him flying backwards.

"Vee laser!"

"Grand Horn!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Gargo Pellets!"

"Gauntlet Claw!"

The force of all of the attacks sent the Chrysalimon flying back and it hit a tree. It fell onto it's stomach but quickly got back up and laughed evilly before shooting out all of it's arms. "Unconnect Buster!" The Digimon tried to get out of the way but were hit by the arms and they all DeDigivovled back into their normal state.

"We can't beat them, even when it's Champion and an Ultimate vs. Champion," Gatomon said weakly as Kari cradled her in her arms.

"We have to leave," TK said as he picked up Patamon.

"You mean give up? That's a stupid idea, TS!" Davis called to him.

"We don't know anything about this Digimon!" TK said fiercely, his eyes flashing. "If it can reduce our Digimon to the rookie stage with one swipe of its claw then it could probably destroy our Digimon too! We have to go back and think of a plan of attack!"

"I agree with TK," Crystal said as she held Icemon closer to her body.

"Then let's get out of here, he's about to attack!" Cody said before he and Armadillomon started running towards the TV. Everybody else took his lead and started to run after them. They had to duck and run a couple of times as the Chrysalimon followed them and stretched out its arms to attack them.

"Willis!" Terriermon and Lopmon cried when he tripped over a root. Chrysalimon laughed evilly before reaching out an arm to slice him with his claw. Before Terriermon and Lopmon could react Icemon got in the way and was hit on the shoulder by the blade.

"Icemon, no!" Crystal cried out as she started to run back to him.

"C'mon, we have to get out of here," Kari said as she gently yet firmly grabbed her arm and pulled her so the two continued running. Kari held up her Digivice when they were close to the TV and they were pulled off of their feet. Crystal slammed into a rolling chair and shot across the room until she crashed into the opposite wall, close to the door. There was one more flash of light as Willis, carrying Icemon, Lopmon, and Terriermon came back into the room. "Is everyone all right?"

"Ice? Are you ok?" Crystal asked as she took the brown Digimon into her arms.

"Nya, I'll be ok, I just need to rest for a while," he responded as he winced slightly from his battle wounds.

"See, this is what happens when you don't listen to me," Crystal said with a small laugh.

"But I _never_ listen to you and I didn't think it would make a difference now, I had to protect Willis," he responded.

"You are one thick-headed Digimon."

"Come on, we have to go tell Izzy about what happened right away," Kari said as she led the group out of the Computer Room. "He'll want to know what happened and he's going to want to tell the other DigiDestined so he can warn their Digimon."

The group made sure that no one was around or people from practices weren't lurking around before leaving the school with their Digimon in their arms. Crystal was staring at Icemon as he slept so peacefully that TK had to grab her arm and yank her to make sure she didn't walk into oncoming traffic.

"Icemon will be ok," he told her in a gentle tone. "If there's one thing I know about Digimon it's that they bounce back from wounds fast if they get a good night's sleep and they have plenty to eat, right Patamon?"

"Exactly," Patamon agreed with a nod.

"That Chrysalimon," Crystal said slowly. "For some reason it feels like I've seen or heard of that Digimon before." Her eyes narrowed before she continued, "I don't know how or where, but I felt something really familiar about it."

"Me too," TK blurted out. Crystal finally looked up from Icemon's face to glance at him. "There was something about that Digimon that reminded me of Diaboromon."

"So how come you didn't say anything to them?" She asked as she nodded towards the group that was waking ahead of them.

"I wanted to make sure I was right first," TK responded. "I didn't want to believe that it could be Diaboromon but now..."

"We have to watch our backs," Crystal finished for him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Crys, I'm sure Ice is ok," Crystal's father, Christian, said as he walked into his daughter's room. She was sitting on the floor of her room, staring at Icemon as he slept in her bed. His head was wrapped in a bandage and he had small cuts on his cheeks.

"I know that, but I'm not worried about that," she said as she finally turned around and stood.

"Then what are you worried about?" he asked as he leaned against the doorway and gave her a questioning look.

"We fought against this Digimon, Chrysalimon," Crystal started to explain as she clasped her hands behind her back and she started to pace. "With one swipe he changed Icemon from a champion to a rookie. He didn't seem to be fazed by any of our attacks, even if they were combined." She paused before continuing, "I was talking to TK earlier and he and I think that it's Diaboromon. He has the same defenses, the same energy, the same evil look on its face. It just has to be him!"

"Last time Diaboromon came into the real world and the time before that he took over the internet just because he was looking for Willis," Christian said slowly. "Do you think he's back for Willis again? Or do you have a different theory?"

"It's both, actually," Crystal said as she stopped pacing and sighed. "I do think that he's after Willis but I think he wants to destroy the DigitalWorld and our world just to get to him. He _knows_ that Terriermon and Lopmon mean a lot to him. I think that Diaboromon thinks that if he destroys the DigitalWorld he can destroy his Digimon and after that he can somehow destroy our world which means that Willis is killed which means that Diaboromon doesn't have anyone to control him and he can go on a destructive rampage!"

"Sounds to me like you have a very good theory in that little brain of yours," Christian said as he flicked Crystal's forehead. "But you shouldn't keep that theory to yourself. You might what to tell that Koushiro kid."

"Great idea, Daddy!" Crystal said as her eyes widened in realization. She rushed over to Icemon and lifted his form out of the bed. She sent him an e-mail through her D-Terminal with one hand as she held Icemon in her other arm. She got directions to his place off of the internet before turning to her father and saying, "I'll be back later."

"There's no rush," he said as his daughter went running past her. "Although if a couple of months later I hear that you're carrying his kid-"

"That's not even funny!" Crystal said as she slipped on her shoes and rushed out the front door. She came back a couple of seconds later with an annoyed look on her face. "Did you just call me dumb?"

"Get out of here!" Christian said with a laugh as he tossed a pillow towards the door. Crystal avoided it as she pulled the door shut. She wrapped Icemon in a bundle before she started to make her way to the Izumi apartment. A couple of people looked at her strangely as she shoved past some people who were standing on corners or walking in cross walks.

"You got here fast, I didn't expect you for another ten minutes," Izzy commented as he opened the door to his apartment and stepped back to let her though.

"My theory is really important so I rushed over here," she said as he closed the door behind her. "And I want you to take a look at Icemon," she added as she motioned to him.

"Hmmm," he said as he looked at the sleeping Digimon and rubbed his chin. "Follow me," was all he said before he started walking towards, what Crystal guessed was his room. "Mom, I have a friend over," he said as he stopped by the kitchen. "This is Crystal Manning, she just moved here from America."

"It's nice to meet you," Mrs. Izumi said with a smile as she dried her hands on a dish towel. "How do you like Japan?"

"It's safe to say that it's never dull around here," she responded with a somewhat hesitant smile.

"We're going to be in my room if you need me," he told her. She gave him a hard look as he sighed and said, "I'll keep the door open," before he resumed his walk to his room. Crystal hurried to catch up with him. "Put Icemon down over there," he said as he nodded towards the space on his desk.

"Nya, what's going on?" Icemon asked sleepily as he opened his eyes.

"I'm just going to run some tests on you," Izzy responded.

"Nya, is it going to hurt?" Icemon asked, suddenly alert.

"Not at all," Izzy said with a laugh as Icemon visibly relaxed. "In the meantime, Crystal, what was this theory that you had?"

For the next few minutes Crystal went into full blown detail about her theory with Diaboromon and the talk she had with TK. When Izzy heard all of this he had a look on his face that was a mixture of shock, amazement, and confusion. He checked the rest of Icemon's scratches and checked to see if any of his wing bones were broken before turning around to face Crystal who had an apprehensive look on his face.

"I can check Chrysalimon on my Digimon Analyzer," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And if it _is_ Diaboromon, then we have bigger problems than I thought. Defeating one Diaboromon is hard, but defeating all of those that're taking over the DigitalWorld will definatley be a challenge. To be safe I think we should go into the DigitalWorld everyday and try to defeat at least one of the Chrysalimon to make sure it doesn't change into Diaboromon."

"That's a lot easier said than done," Crystal said as Icemon flew over and landed on her shoulder. "But we can give it a shot."

"I can find out all of the areas that the Chrysalimon are in and I'll contact the other DigiDestined to see if they can get their Digimon to help. I guess we have start from there," he said with a sigh as he stood upright. "Icemon should be fine," he quickly changed the subject as Crystal scratched Icemon's head. "There aren't any bones broken, he should heal pretty fast."

"Thanks Koushi-kun," she said as she stood.

Izzy blinked before asking, "How come you don't call me Izzy like the others?"

"Because calling you Koushi-kun shows that I have respect for you." Crystal paused before quickly adding as her face turned a little red, "Not that the others don't."

"Is there anything else you want to know or tell me?" He asked as he tilted his head slightly,

"N-no," Crystal said as she shook her head. "Thanks for listening to my theory though. I'll see you later I guess," she mumbled before rushing out of his room.

"I'd like that," he said under his breath before he turned on his computer.

"Crystal, slow down!" Icemon called as he frantically flew after his partner. "Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because, if I did, none of them would talk to me ever again," Crystal responded.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Hey Crystal," Davis greeted her at school one morning as Crystal took off her hat and slid into her seat. She looked up when Davis addressed her and stood in front of her desk. "How's Icemon doing?"

"He's fine," she responded as she tapped her pencil on her desk as she held her head up with her left hand that was pressed against her cheek. "I took him to Izzy to make sure nothing was broken and he said that Icemon will heal fast."

"Ok, so what's bothering you?" David asked. Crystal peered up at him, trying to think if she could trust him or not as she slowly stopped taping her pencil.

"I think Chrysalimon is Diaboromon," she sated. Davis's eyes widened in shock before a flicker of determination came into his eyes.

"Diaboromon or not we can't let the Chrysalimon take over the Digital World!" He said as he slammed his fist into his open palm."

"I all ready told Izzy about this, he's going to check on Chrysalimon with his Digimon Analyzer," Crystal told him. "He said we should take out each Chrysalimon just to make sure. If it _is_ Diaboromon we can't let it Digivolve or it will be the end of our world and the DigiWorld as we know it." She noticed the look in his eye and said, "Don't worry about it so much. There's little we can do here anyway."

"Everyone, settle down," the teacher said as he came into the classroom. Davis rushed back to his seat and pulled his goggles down around his neck, preparing for a boring lesson, not that he would pay attention. He was staring off into space, thinking about what Crystal had told him. He never went against a Digimon such as Diaboromon before but after hearing the stories about how strong he was from TK, Tai, Izzy, and Matt, he knew that he didn't want to come across a Digimon like that ever. If Diaboromon could take over the internet and almost destroy their neighborhood, he didn't want to imagine what he could do to the Digital World.

_'I don't know what I would do without Digimon. The Digital World is like my escape from this world and Veemon is my best friend. My life would be so boring if he wasn't in it anymore. And I would have to deal with my sister all over again. We won't let Chrysalimon get away with this.'_

**Kari's POV**

_'Diaboromon? I heard about him from Tai, if he's in the Digital World then we're in trouble.'_

"Hikari, you missed a step."

I blinked and put my foot down on the ground to stop spinning before I looked up and saw Crystal walking down the bleachers with her hands shoved into her pockets. I glanced at the other girls to see if they noticed that I had missed a step but they were too busy watching the guys practice basketball.

"Is something on your mind?" She asked as she stood in front of me. "Usually your form is perfect but not it's...slouchy."

"I was just thinking," I admitted as I walked over to a bench and sat down. "About Diaboromon. If it really was him you'd think we would've been warned about it earlier or there would've been a prophecy or something to warn us about it." I let out a sigh before continuing. "I was at a birthday part the time it happened. My brother, Izzy, and later TK and Matt were the only ones who could fight the Digimon and they weren't strong enough to defeat him until MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon fused to Omnimon. Even then they were lucky enough to defeat him. What if, even if our Digimon DNA Digivolve it's not enough and both worlds are destroyed?"

"Hikari, from what I've heard you've defeated the Dark Masters, Apocalymon, Myotismon three times, and Wendigomon when no one else could. And you never gave up hope any of those times. Nothing has even happened and you're all ready giving up? That's unlike you."

"Yeah," Gatomon agreed as she came down the bleachers. "No matter who we have to face Kari we can't give up. We're the ones who are responsible for every life in the Digital World now. If you give up now, then you're giving up on everyone in your world and my world."

"But...what if we don't have enough power this time?" I asked in a whisper.

"Don't say that!" Gatomon snapped. I looked up at her, shocked by the harshness that filled her voice. "Thoughts like that is what gives the Dark Ocean it's power to take you back and we can't afford to loose you to that place ever again." She smiled as she said, "Don't forget I'm here to protect you Kari and when we're together we can do anything."

"You're right Gatomon, and thank you," I said as I gave her a hug. I rejoined the girls that were standing on the other side of the gym and watched the guys play basketball. Davis was doing a lot better than usual and he didn't let his temper flare whenever TK got a basket, which was a good portion of the time. I have to admit I'm amazed by how much Davis grew up over the years and how he matured after our adventures in the Digital World.

"Hey look, it's that new kid Willis," one girl pointed out as she held her pompom out in his direction as he walked into the court.

"He's so cute," another girl with braids gushed as she blushed.

"Almost as cute as TK," a blond girl said, which got the whole group to start a debate over whether or not TK was cuter than Willis or vice versa. I'm sure they both could hear what the girls were saying but they were doing a very good job in pretending that they couldn't. For some reason whenever they said something about TK a feeling of wanting to rip their eyes out washed over to me. Making sure I didn't go along with that impulse I sat with Crystal and watched them practice, cheering the guys on from time to time.

"Jealous?" Crystal asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Of what?" I asked her in confusion as I looked at her, only to notice a mischievous glint in her eyes as she smirked at me.

"Of them openly talking about Takeru," she responded.

"Why would I be jealous? TK and I are just friends," I said as I shook my head. I've been dealing with this ever since we turned eleven. TK and I have been best friends for a while and we always hang out. As we grew up a lot of people have been asking if we're dating, and the answer was always the same: we're just friends, but that never seems to go through their minds because they always see us as the cutest couple. "What about you and Willis?" I asked with a grin.

"Willis!" She cried out. "_That_ Willis!" She asked as she pointed. I nodded as I laughed at her reaction. "There's no way I'd ever like him. For one thing he's waaaaay too nice, I don't even know why I'm friends with him. And for another, he's a flirt. He goes around complimenting girls and flirting with them all of the time."

"You sound like your jealous," I laughed as she glared at me.

"I am not. I can't even stand him most of the time. I only became friends with him because he had _no_ clue how to take care of a Digimon, let alone two." She rolled her eyes as she said, "Him trying to create a new one was the stupidest idea he has ever had. If he listened to me in the first place we would've have to deal with the fact that Diaboromon might be back in power. That idiot."

"You're so in love with him," I stated.

"Eh?" Was all she got out as she whipped her head around to look at me. "You take that back!"

"Getting defensive! You so like him!" I laughed as I jumped up from the bleachers and backed away a couple of steps, feeling slightly intimidated by her icy glare.

"Take that back, Kamiya!" She growled as she dropped to the floor and walked towards me. I opened my mouth to say something but a beep reached our ears. I recognized the beep instantly and glanced around to see if Willis, TK, and Davis noticed it. They did and they rushed off the basketball court in our direction.

"What's up? Who sent us an e-mail?" Willis asked as he wiped his brow.

"Hmm...Izzy did, which is no surprise," I said as I pulled out my Dterminal. "He said that Gennai sent him and e-mail and it's important that we get to his house as soon as possible. The Older DigiDestined are coming too."

"We can't leave yet, practice isn't over," TK said before Davis could open his mouth.

"Then we'll just meet you there," Crystal said as I put my DTerminal back into my pocket. "C'mon Hikari, let's go."

* * *

"Ok, I think everyone is here," Izzy said after counting the pople who were in his room. "I brought you all here because of a message Gennai sent me. It's actually a prophecy that he found." He turned to his computer and pressed a few buttons before turning the screen to them.

"Nya, what does that say?" Icemon asked as he peered at the strange symbols that were on the screen.

"Gennai translated it for me," Izzy replied. _"As the two angels fall the darkness will rise like the tide. Darkness cannot live without the light, but only one can control all. Now the seal is breaking, anger is slowly seeping out and back into his heart. Can we stop him again? Or will we lose and join them? What caused this anger to fill his heart with hatred in the first place? Will it ever be sealed away? Only eternal love can save us all..."_

"As the two angels fall?" Tai repeated as he rubbed his chin. "The only angles I know are Patamon and Gatomon when they're Angemon and Angewomon."

"So...if they fail in anything then Darkness will take over the Digital World?" I asked as I looked at Gatomon.

"The next part says the darkness can't live without the light and only one can control all," TK pointed out. "Kari's the DigiDestined of light, we all know that. But who, or what, is Darkness?"

"What seal are they talking about?" Sora asked.

"My guess is the seal has something to do with the Dark Ocean if not another dimension," Willis said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Or it could be talking about a Digimon that has been sealed away."

"What about the eternal love part?" Joe asked as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Maybe it has something to do with Sora," Yolei spoke up. "She is the DigiDestined of Love after all."

"If it has to do with Crest attributes than that means someone has the Crest of Darkness," Cody said.

"Is there such thing, Izzy?" Matt asked as he whirled around to look at the red head.

"I didn't know there was such thing as a Crest of Kindness so I guess it's possible," Izzy said with a slight nod. "If this prophecy is going to come true anytime soon then I say that we go into the Digital World and don't come back until all the Chrysalimon are defeated."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Willis?" Lopmon called out softly, his voice small in the dark. Terriermon was still fast asleep as Lopmon slid out of his bed. He looked around and saw Willis leaning against the railing of the balcony. "Willis?" Lopmon flew into the air and gently landed on Willis's shoulder. "Willis, what's wrong?"

"All of this is my fault," he muttered as he wiped a tear that threatened to fall out of his eyes.

"You didn't do anything, Willis," Lopmon said as he raised an ear and put it on Willis's head.

"Yes I did!" He said as he pounded his fist on the railing. "I created Diaboromon in the first place! I almost caused the whole world to be destroyed! If I never tried to make another Digimon, Diaboromon wouldn't be back and the whole world wouldn't be in danger. This is my entire fault."

"Even so, we're here to fix the problem," Lopmon said with a smile. "You don't have to do things by yourself anymore. You have friends who will stick by you and to help you out."

"There has to be a reason as to why Diaboromon won't be defeated," Willis said, deep in thought. "There must be something that's keeping him alive and keeping him in power, but what?"

"Willis, you need to get some sleep, we can think about it in the morning when you're more wide awake," Lopmon said in a caring tone. Willis didn't say anything as he turned around and went back into his room. He closed the sliding glass door before crossing the room to his bed and flopping down onto it. Lopmon curled up next to him and instantly went to sleep as Willis lies there, staring at the ceiling.

Morning came all too soon for him because Willis barley got any sleep. He stayed up most of the night, staring at the ceiling, blaming himself for Diaboromon still being alive and still trying to gain more power.

"Don't worry about it so much, Willis," Terriermon said as he watched Willis walk around, getting his things ready for school. "Whatever's been happening isn't your entire fault."

"Is that supposed to make him feel better?" Lopmon asked as he looked over at his twin as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, because he didn't do anything to provoke Diaboromon," Terruermon responded as he came down from the fan blade he was sitting on. "Sure, he created Diaboromon, but he wasn't the one who made Diaboromon come back."

"Terriermon, that's enough!" Lopmon said as he glanced over at Willis.

"It's all right," Willis said as he went over to them and he gently patted their heads. "Even if the whole thing isn't my fault part of it is and I won't rest until we clean up this mess."

"Willis, honey, you're going to be late for school," Ms. Nelson said as she walked into her son's room, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Thanks Mom," Willis said as he opened his backpack and waited for Terriermon and Lopmon to jump inside. "I might be late tonight; it depends on when the coach decides to let us out of practice."

"All right, behave," Ms. Nelson said as she kissed the top of Willis's head.

"You don't need to remind me of that," Willis said with a smile before slipping on his shoes and closed the door of his apartment behind himself. Like usual, Willis felt a sense of peace as he walked down the street towards his school. He stopped on the way to get something to eat for breakfast and he split it with Terriermon and Lopmon.

"I see with twin Digimon their appetites are bigger," Kari said with a laugh as she patted Terriermon and Lopmon on the head with her gloved hand.

"That's true," Willis agreed in a distracted tone as they continued walking down the street.

"What's on your mind now?" Kari asked as she fell into step with him.

"I've just been thinking about how the Chrysalimon are taking over the Digital World," Willis responded with a sigh. "This wouldn't have happened if I didn't try to create a Digimon in the first place. We would all be fine and we wouldn't have to deal with this along with keeping our Digimon a secret. I feel as if all of this is my fault." He let out a sigh before continuing. "So, I decided that I'll go into the Digital World and fix this by myself."

"Even if you convinced yourself about that you're not going to go alone," Kari said in a serious tone as she stopped walking and he stopped to look back at her. "Willis, I thought we told you that you're part of a team, a team that will always have each other's backs. You don't have to do anything alone anymore; we're here to help you out."

Willis just nodded before they made their way to the school once more. They let their Digimon out of their packs before rushing inside and putting their things into their lockers. "It's amazing how they can all have normal lives and we've been selected to help protect them and make sure their lives are normal," Willis muttered as he watched students walk by laughing and talking about gossip or what was on TV.

"The way I see it, we're lucky not to be normal," Crystal commented as she appeared by his side, causing him to jump. "Normal is boring and seriously overrated."

"You're only saying that because you've _never_ been normal a day in your life," Willis commented as he closed his locker door and tucked his books under his arm.

"Being my own identity is a lot more fun than being a conformist," she said as they started walking down the hallway. "Or being a goody-goody like you."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Willis said with a laugh. To Crystal it sounded forced so she looked at him with questioning eyes. "Nothing's wrong," he said once he noticed the look that she was giving him. "I promise," he added when she didn't stop giving him the look. "If there was something wrong I'll tell you."

"That's all I ask," she replied as she pulled her hat off of her head and sat down at her desk, immediately turning to look out the window. Willis let out a sigh before turning his attention to the teacher, which was hard seeing as he wasn't all there. He thought too much about the fact that Chrysalimon were taking over and how they could make the Digimon go back a stage with one blow.

'_This is all my fault,'_ he thought sadly as he moved from class to class. _'I almost destroyed Japan and the U.S. because of Diabormon and the missiles. Now that the Chrusalimon are in the Digital World they could take that over and the other Digimon would be destroyed one by one and that'll be my fault too.'_

He stopped walking when the sound of a stone dropping in water caught his attention. He was standing in the middle of the hallway yet he could feel cool breeze and he could hear the ocean as if he were standing on the beach. He blinked and the breeze stopped, but he could still hear the crashing of the waves.

"The beach," he muttered as he turned to look out the window towards the beach that was right across from the school. "Why's it…calling to me?"

"Willis." Willis blinked as he tried to find the owner of the voice. It sounded so far away, as if his ears were filled with water. "Willis!" He slowly turned around as everything flashed from color to black, gray, and white and everything seemed to move in slow motion. He felt a hand on his shoulder as the sound of a wave crashing on shore filled his ears.

The beach.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Willis coughed before rolling onto his side. His eyes flew open when he looked down and saw sand covering his hands. But the sand wasn't its normal golden color; it was gray with little black specks. He glanced around and saw that the ocean that was behind him was a dark shade of gray, along with everything else that was there.

"What's going on here?" He asked himself as he staggered to his feet. "Terriermon? Lopmon?" He called as he looked around. He sighed when he didn't get a response. "Hmmm?" He ran down the beach before dropping down next to Crystal who was lying still on the sand. "Crys? Hey, Crys, wake up,"

She stirred and blinked open her eyes before sitting up and looking around. "Where are we?" She asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I think it's the Dark Ocean," Willis responded.

"Dark Ocean?" Crystal repeated.

"Yeah, Kari was telling me about this place," he said as he looked around. "The Dark Ocean takes people who have darkness in their hearts or something."

"That doesn't explain you, though," Crystal said as she crossed her arms and peered at him. "You're too...good to have darkness inside of you. There has to be another reason why you were sent here...and there has to be a reason as to why I was dragged along with you."

"What do we do now?" Willis questioned.

"Let's look around to see if someone else is here."

* * *

"Is something wrong, Kari?" TK asked as he sat down next to her and set his tray down on the lunch table. She lifted her head from her palm and looked over at him.

"Have you seen Willis or Crystal today?" She asked him.

"This morning," he responded as he raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"I haven't seen them since then and usually Willis walks me to my classes," Kari responded, concern in her voice. "Where do you think they went?"

"That's hard to say. But wherever they are, I'm sure they're safe," TK said in a reassuring tone. "They can take care of themselves, Kar'."

"I know, but I'm still worried," Kari admitted. "Earlier Willis and I were talking about the Dark Ocean. He said he had had a dream about the Dark Ocean. Do you think he was taken there and Crystal got transported with him?"

"If they did we have no clue how to get there," TK responded. "When I went to find you back in eighth grade it was weird because I saw you floating in the sky and the next thing I knew I was on the sand at the Dark Ocean. I don't think it will work that way all of the time, if they're actually there."

"Maybe Ken knows," Kari said, her voice full of thought. "He's the only other person I know of who was transported there. Maybe he knows how to get there."

"How are we going to get to him? He goes to a whole different school and we have to get on a train just to see him," TK said.

"We could always go through the Digital World."

"You know we'd get in trouble if we were caught skipping part of school."

"Aren't your friends more important?"

"Good point." TK sighed. He hated it when Kari was right.

* * *

"I'm exhausted," Willis said as he sat down under the shade of a tree. "Let's rest for a couple of minutes."

"Fine," was all Crystal said as she pulled off the black and blue, now black and gray, striped arm warmer off of her right arm and shoved it into her cargo pocket. "Man, if only Icemon were here. He could Digivolve and we'd be able to leave in no time." She whirled around and crossed her arms as she announced, "You know, this is all your fault."

"_My_ fault?" Willis repeated as he looked up at her. "How's this _my_ fault. I'm not the one who summoned us here."

"But something did and that something probably wants to destroy you!" She gripped the color to his jacket and started to shake him. "And we have Diaboromon to deal with and that's your fault too!"

"Is there anything else you'd like to blame me for?" He asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Yeah, for bringing me into your life!"

"Hey, no one said you had to follow me!" Willis shot back as he stood and brushed the sand off of the seat of his pants. "It's _your_ fault that you were dragged in here with me." He crossed his arms as a smirk came onto his face. "You were jealous, weren't you?"

"Of you! HA! There's nothing about you to be jealous of!" Crystal scoffed as she let go of his collar.

"You're jealous of all of the attention I'm getting and the only thing you're getting is numerous detentions."

"Listen-" Crystal started but laughter interrupted her. She and Willis looked around to try and find the source of the laughter. She turned around right as something slammed into her stomach. "Oof!" She cried out before she was sent flying back and slammed into a rock, where she slumped forward, the arm still held her pinned.

"Crys!" Willis gasped in shock before whirled around, eyes wide.

"_Don't interfere_!" Diaboromon rasped as his eyes locked with Willis's.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Let me see if I can understand this," Davis said as he crossed his arms. He, TK, Kari, Yolei, and Cody had gathered in the computer lab, but it wasn't easy. They had to dodge teachers and made sure they didn't make a lot of noise when they came in. To be safe, they left the lights off. Gatomon, Patamon, DemiVeemon, Upamon, and Poromon came out of their hiding places and went over to their respectful owners. "You saw Willis and Crystal this morning but now they're gone. And you think this has something to do with Diaboromon. So now we're going to go running to the DigitalWorld to try and find them?"

"No," Kari said with a sigh. "We think that they're in the Dark Ocean. Willis wanted to know about it earlier today and it would explain their sudden disappearance. I mean, their Digimon aren't even here with them so what else could have happened?"

"But we don't even know _how_ to get to the DarkOcean," Cody spoke up. "So, if they're there, we don't know how to get to them."

"Well, Kari knows a way," TK said slowly. "But it will cause some suffering on her part but she's willing to go along with it."

"What's the plan?" Yolei asked.

"You know how it always seems that I get sent to the DarkOcean because I think Dark thoughts?" Kari asked. The others nodded as they stayed silent. "I'm just going to have to let the darkness take over me so it can take me there again." She paused and added, "I don't know what will happen this time, but I have to give it a shot. To see if we can find them."

"I don't think we could risk it," Gatomon spoke up as Kari turned to look at her. "We don't know what can happen to you. You could get destroyed, or worse, walk around like an empty shell."

"Gatomon's right, Kari," Yolei agreed.

"Do you know any other way to get there?" Kari asked as she looked at all of them. They didn't say anything. "I'm 80 percent sure that this is the way to do it. And I'm willing to sacrifice myself to help find our friends."

"You could get hurt," TK said softly.

"We've been in bigger trouble than this, _Takeru_," Kari said pointedly. TK sighed. He knew that whenever she said his full name her mind was made up. And when her mind was made up, there was no way _anyone_ could change it.

"Ok, go ahead," TK said with a sigh. "But only if you promise not to hurt yourself."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try."

* * *

**Short, I know. Please leave a review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Kari's POV**

I closed my eyes and let out a couple of deep breaths. I pushed everything out of my head as I squeezed my eyes shut. I imagined that no one was in the room as I concentrated. I could feel it, I could feel the darkness coming in, taking me over. Then the pain came along with it. I clenched my hands and squeezed my eyes tighter as the pain intensified. I could feel the tears leaking from my closed eyelids as I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth.

"_It's all over…"_

I jerked my head when I heard Cody's voice.

"_We can't do anything to help…"_

Now it was Davis's.

I opened my eyes and gasped.

"_He said he would do it…I can't believe it…" a TK muttered as his pearl white wings flapped behind him. He and I were standing on top of the tallest building staring down at what used to be our hometown. Everything was demolished: the buildings were piles of rubble, the trees were piles of ash…everything was gone._

"_All of the fighting…" I muttered as a cool breeze blew my hair across his face, shielding my wet eyes from TK._

"_All of that hard work…and for nothing," TK continued as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from coming. "Our family."_

"_Our friends."_

"_Gone."_

_We stayed silent as we let our eyes scan over the rubble. Our wings flapped gently at our sides as we tried to take in every devastating sight. Without a word, the TK jumped off of the building and gently plummeted towards the ground. Once he got close enough he opened his wings and slowed to a stop on the ground. I followed his lead and landed easily beside him._

_We hesitantly walked into our old town, looking around at the burnt buildings where we spent our days shopping and hanging out. We continued making our way to the old park, where it was a barren wasteland of dirt and ash. I stopped walking as TK turned and looked back at me, confusion in his eyes._

"_I can't," I whispered in a shaky voice._

"_You have to," TK told me gently but firmly. "We have to face this."_

"_I can't! I can't! I can't see them!"_

"_We have to. I know it's hard, but we have to do this…they would want this."_

"_Who would want this?" My voice was shaking with rage as tears fell freely down my face. "Tell me, who would want this to happen? Everyone we cared about has died. DIED! Do you understand?"_

"_Listen…" TK started._

"_Everyone we love are dead! They're not coming back! And all you can say is we have to face this destruction…this evil."_

"_We're the only ones left who can restore our home. Who can return everything to normal."_

"_We can't go back to normal, understand? We can't! And it's our entire fault!"_

"Take my hand," I mumbled as I held out my hands. I could feel my friends grasping my hands as the Digimon touched my leg. I closed my eyes again, concentrating on navigating through the pain, through the darkness. I gasped and fell to my knees, letting go of their hands. I slowly opened my eyes and gripped the sand that was sifting between my fingers. _'Sand?'_

"You did it, Kari," TK said as he helped me to my feet, not letting go until he was sure that I was steady and could stand on my own. "You got us to the Dark Ocean." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine," I whispered as I stared out across the dark beach, trying to fight the memories that were seeping their way back into my mind.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" David asked in annoyance. "We can't just sit around here."

"I say we split up," I suggested. "We'll be able to cover more ground. Who knows how big the Dark Ocean is? And if we find them we can always send each other a message."

"I agree," TK said with a nod.

"I guess it's settled then," Yolei said before looking down at Hawkmon. All at once our Digimon Digivolved and we were off going our separate ways.

I held myself onto Nefertimon by pressing my knees into her side as I gently but firmly held onto her fur that was in between her wings. "Kari, what did you see while you were trying to find a way into the Dark Ocean?" Nefertimon asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I felt it, the darkness," Nefertimon responded. "I was watching you too. At one point you looked like you were in pain and then you looked like you were at peace. Your face relaxed and you weren't making much noise. And then the pained look crossed your face again when you asked us to take your hand. What happened?"

"I think…I saw the future," I responded, not being able to believe it myself.

"What was it you saw in the future?"

"Destruction. Our hometown was destroyed."

"Was I there."

"No…no one was there. It was only me and TK. It was weird, we were standing on top of a building and we had these wings on our backs. It was like we were angels or something. Our hometown was destroyed, I don't know what did it, but someone destroyed it. TK kept telling me that we had to face whatever did this, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to see what it was that killed everyone. He said we were the only ones who could fix everything that has happened."

"What do you think destroyed our home?" Nefertimon asked.

"There are a lot of suspects that I could choose from. But, seeing as what's been happening recently, I want to say Diaboromon," I responded. "But, what I want to know, is why he would want to destroy our world when he can just destroy the digital world instead."

* * *

**Eh, lame chapter. And sorry it took me soooo long to update, I lost interest in this story and now I got it back. I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

**-Crystal**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Willis's POV**

My breath got caught in my throat and I tried to tear my eyes away from Diaboromon's, but I couldn't. There was something about his gaze that made it so I couldn't tear my eyes away. I stumbled backwards, trying to get away from him. He just laughed evilly and advanced towards me, his large yellow eyes burning holes into my head.

"Willis...Willis..." Diaboromon repeated my name, laughing in between the times he repeated it. I clasped my hands over my ears, trying to shut the laughter out but it echoed in my head. I couldn't escape him; he _knew_ that I couldn't escape him.

Ever since Diaboromon's return when Tai and Matt went back into the internet to stop him I knew that I would, ultimately, never get away from Diaboromon. He would follow me until he was able to fulfill what it was that he was trying to do. The only problem was I didn't know what he wanted, which was what terrified me the most.

I turned around and sprinted down the beach as fast as I could. Without Terriermon or Lopmon with me I knew I wouldn't stand a chance at all if he decided to destroy me. Diaboromon laughed again and another chill ran down my spine.

"_Web Wrecker_!"

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw a ball of energy flying towards me. I was suddenly knocked off of my feet and landed face down on the sand. I felt heat on my back before a loud explosion reached my ears. I looked up and saw a large hole in a rock that was a few feet away from me. It was smoking and the edge of the hole was bright like in a fire.

My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the hole, which could've been me if I hadn't fallen. _'What had knocked me down anyway?' _I looked back and saw Crystal lying on the ground, panting. Blood was dripping down from her hairline and she hastily wiped it away.

"Don't just sit there staring at me, you idiot!" Crystal snapped as she struggled to her feet. I glanced further back to see Diaboromon watching us, laughing in his taunting way. _'Why didn't he attack again when he had the chance?'_ "You gotta get outta here."

"Not without you," I responded as I started to go back to her. Diaboromon's eyes narrowed in anger once he realized what I was doing.

_"Web Wrecker!_"

I flung myself to the ground, landing on my arm wrong in the process. Tears of pain came to my eyes, especially when I put weight on my arm to get to my feet. I grasped Crystal's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet as I tried to get away from Diaboromon.

"Come on!" I cried out as she stumbled next to me.

"I can't! I hurt my leg!" She responded in a strained voice.

"Lean against me," I said as I brought her arm over his shoulder and held her around the waist. The two scrambled up the beach as fast as they could. My heart was beating hard in my chest as blood rushed in my ears. I could hear Diaboromon moving quickly behind us. In only a matter of seconds he would be on top of us.

"_Web Wrecker!_"

I felt the sand beneath me disappear before I was launched into the air. Wind whistled in my ear as the ground sped up to meet me. I landed hard on my side and bounced once before rolling over. The salty sea air breeze reached my nose along with the sound of the tossing waves. I rolled onto my stomach and looked out at the ocean before looking down, only to see that we had landed at the edge of a cliff.

I turned back to check on Crystal when my eyes locked with Diaboromon's. A slow evil smile spread across his face before his limbs started quaking, shortly after his body started shaking along with his limbs. My breath got caught in my throat. I didn't know what he was planning on doing but I knew that it wouldn't be good.

_"Lost Paradise_."

I reached out to grab Crystal's hand when I felt a force, like a brick wall, hit me in the side and a deafening roar reached my ears. Before I could grab her I was sent flying backwards, over the edge of the cliff. The sky and the sea switched positions as I plummeted towards the churning water. Everything seemed strangely peaceful, it was quiet as the water rose up to meet me and I plunged through the surface with enough force to knock the wind out of me and cause me to black out.

I came to when I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my forehead. I groaned and tired to lift my right arm but stopped when pain exploded in it and shot all the way up to my shoulder. I forced my eyes open and blinked rapidly so they could adjust to the bright light. I was lying down next to a handmade fire in a cave. The crackling from the burning wood was the only sound that echoed in the cave.

_'How'd I get here?' _I sat up all the way and looked around. I glanced towards the mouth of the cave when I heard a scraping sound. "Terriermon!" I cried out as he came in, carrying a stack of twigs in his arms. "Lopmon!" Lopmon came in behind him, also carrying a stack of twigs.

"Willis!" The two cried out in unison. They dropped the twigs before rushing over to me. I reached out with my good arm and brought them close to me. I let out a sigh of relief when I felt them cling to me.

"Are you two ok? How'd I get here?" I asked them.

"We're fine," Lopmon responded. "Back at the school we felt like we were being pulled somewhere. Next thing we knew we were here. Terriermon and I went around trying to find a Digimon that could tell us where we were."

"There aren't any other ones here," Terriermon continued. "We found this cave as we walked down the beach. We stayed here for a little bit trying to come up with an idea on what to do. We heard some explosions and tried to find where it was coming from. Then we saw you falling into the ocean. We went out and got you and brought you back here. You've been out for at least twenty minutes. You have a cut on your forehead and your arm is broken."

"Well, I guess that's better than being destroyed," I sighed as I shifted so my back was resting against the cave wall and Terriermon and Lopmon were resting on my lap. "Wait a second, where's Crystal? What happened to her?" I cried out as I looked down at them.

"We didn't see her, we only saw you," Terriermon responded slowly, as if measuring his words.

"I have to go find her," I muttered as I tried to stand.

"No Willis," Lopmon said, stopping me. "You're in no condition to go out there. Diaboromon might find you and attack you again."

"Diaboromon went through the Internet and was close to finding me all those years ago. That same virus in Diaboromon tracked you down, Lopmon, and you were easily able to find me. I think if Diaboromon wanted to attack me again, he would've done so all ready," I explained.

"Stay, Willis," Lopmon said in a firm tone. "Terriermon and I will go looking for her. In the meantime, I'm sure your friends are worried. You might want to check if you D-Terminal will work."

"Ok." I sighed in defeat as Terriermon and Lopmon got off of my lap. They threw a couple more sticks onto the fire before talking quietly and Terriermon left the cave. Lopmon came back over t me and sat in my lap. I held onto hi with my good arm and rested my chin on his head, careful to avoid the three horns that were on his head. "I hope she's ok."

"I'm sure she is," Lopmon told me. I wanted to believe him, but I just couldn't. Uncomfortable silence stretched between us as we waited and waited. I tried to ignore the pain that was throbbing in my arm as I reached into my pocket to pull out my D-Terminal. I shook it, surprised that I didn't hear any water sloshing around on the inside. I flipped open the flap revealing the screen and pressed a button, smiling a little when it lit up. _'Who should I contact? I'll try Kari.'_

I quickly put Hikari Kamiya in the receiver space before typing out my message. I held my breath and pushed 'send' waiting. A couple of seconds later it beeped, signaling that the message hadn't gone through. _'That's weird. I'll try Davis.' _I tried to send a message to Davis but I got another signal telling me that the letter wouldn't send to him either. I tried everyone else in the group, including Izzy and Tai, but the message wouldn't go through.

"Arrrgh!" I growled before throwing the D-Terminal across the cave where it smacked into the wall and landed on the ground. I held my head in my hands as I gripped at my hair. "This is my entire fault," I groaned.

"This isn't your fault, Willis," Lopmon told me.

"Yes it is! I'm the reason Diaboromon is back! If I hadn't tried to create another Digimon on the web it wouldn't have been infected by a virus, it wouldn't have tried to destroy Japan and my summer home, it wouldn't have tracked you down and attacked you and-"

"And you wouldn't have met the friends you have now," Lopmon interrupted me, looking me straight in the eye. I blinked and stared back at him as his words sunk into my head. He was telling the truth, if this hadn't happened I never would have met and became friends with them.

"That's true, but we wouldn't be in this mess either," I responded after a few minutes of silence. Lopmon let out a small sigh as I leaned my head back against the cave wall. I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew I was being woken up by the sound of something scratching against the cave wall. I forced my eyes open and looked around until my eyes rested on Terriermon, who was scratching the walls with a twig. Lopmon was sleeping peacefully on my lap, his head resting on my chest. "When'd you get back?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Terriermon responded as he dropped the stick he held in his hands and walked towards me.

"You didn't run into any trouble?"

"No," he responded as he shook his head. "Why?"

"I was attacked by Diaboromon earlier," I admitted. "I was hoping you didn't run into him."

"Diaboromon?" Terriermon repeated. "But...I thought he was defeated."

"He was," I responded.

"And I thought he was defeated again."

"He was," I repeated. "I don't know how he came back this time. Maybe there was a stray virus or something. All I know is that this is my fault and I have to find a way to fix it. I don't even know what he's after this time." I let out the breath I was holding and took in the crisp sea air. "Did you find-"

"She's sleeping," Terriermon said as he pointed in Crystal's direction with one of his ears. I followed the direction his ear pointed and let out a sigh of relief when I saw her sleeping on the ground near the fire, her bangs were still damp and stuck to her forehead. "I found her washed up on the beach and carried her back here," he explained.

I nodded before lifting Lopmon with my good arm and moved over so I was sitting near Crystal. I placed Lopmon on the ground next to me, trying now to wake him up. I gently pulled Crystal over to me so her head was resting on my lap before I picked Lopmon up again and held him. "I almost lost her before," I told Terriermon as I continued studying Crystal's face. "It was after Kokomon came back and digivolved to Lopmon. We were playing in the lake in Colorado. She wasn't that strong of a swimmer and she fell off of the floating dock that was in the middle of it. She started panicking and I wanted to help her so badly, but I couldn't. Eventually someone from the shore saw what was happening and rescued her." Terriermon sat silently watching me. "Since then I promised that I would protect her, and look how we ended up: hiding in a cave from a Digimon that I created and I couldn't even protect her."

"That's what you think," Terriermon said as he climbed onto my shoulder and stayed there by wrapping an ear around my neck. "She was conscious for a little bit, she was telling me to tell you that she said thank you."

"For what?" I asked in confusion. "I didn't do anything."

"If you didn't do anything then she wouldn't be alive after Diaboromon attacked you," he pointed out. As his words sunk in a smile came to my face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Nefertimon, I'm getting worried," Kari told her as the two walked down the beach. After looking around with a bird's eye view for a while they decided to check along the beach. "It's been about two hours and we still haven't found them."

"I'm sure they're fine, Kari," Nefertimon told me.

"But they don't have their Digimon with them. At least, we think they don't. And with the Chrysalimon everywhere they could be in serious trouble."

Kari brought her hand up to her mouth and bit her thumb nail, a nervous habit that she tried hard to break. The only time she did that was when she was really worried about something. No one else has seen her bite her nails unless it was near examination time.

"Why don't you try contacting one of the others to find out if they've seen them?" Nefertimon suggested. "Good idea," Kari took her D-terminal out of her yellow shorts and flipped it open. A bright yellow glow followed by a pink beam of light grabbed her attention. She looked down and saw Gatomon sitting on the ground, panting, and ears drooped. "I'm a little tired," she admitted under Kari's gaze. "But I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Kari asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm sure," Gatomon responded as she lay down and closed her eyes. "I just need to take a little cat nap." Before Kari could say anything Gatomon had dozed off, snoring softly.

Kari giggled to herself before bringing her attention back to her D-Termianl. On instinct she brought up TK's name and quickly typed a message before hitting send. Before she could put it back into her pocket it beeped, catching her attention. She frowned when she got a message saying that her mail couldn't be sent. "That's never happened before," she muttered to herself before trying again. Once more the message couldn't be delivered, which made Kari even more nervous than she all ready was.

_'Get a grip, girl. Maybe they just aren't working properly now. You can get Izzy to check them out later_' Kari told herself as she picked up Gatomon and carried her down the beach. A feeling of fear and dread filled her as she continued walking. She shook her head and focused on finding her friends but the feeling came back. _'C'mon Kar', get a grip! Get a grip!'_

Pictures of the vision that she saw floated back into her head. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks when she saw the destruction in one flash.

"Kari, are you ok?" Kari blinked and looked down at the still sleeping Gatomon. She turned around and sighed when she noticed that TK was running down the beach towards her. Once he fell into step with her she felt his ocean blue eyes staring at her tear-stained face. "Are you ok?" He repeated.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded as she brushed her cheek with her shoulder to get the tears off.

"Are you sure?" TK pressed. "You know you can tell me what's bothering you."

"I know, it's nothing," Kari responded. "I promise. Did you have any luck finding them?" She asked, changing the subject.

"No," TK responded as he shook his head. "We looked everywhere. Eventually we had to hide because a Chrysalimon attacked. Even Angemon couldn't defeat him; he was easily reverted back to Patamon." He shrugged his shoulder where Patamon was sleeping peacefully. "I guess it's better than being destroyed."

"Did you try using your D-Terminal?" Kari asked.

"I did, actually," TK said as he raised his eyebrows. "But no matter how many times I tried a message wouldn't get sent out. It's like something is blocking its signal."

Kari let out a sigh as she continued walking. She clutched Gatomon a little bit tighter when the cool breeze came up from the ocean. TK hesitantly put his arm around her and pulled her to him. She flashed him a grateful smile and he gave his charming one in return. It slowly faded as they walked down the beach, trying to see if there was any sign of their friends.

"TK..." Kari started as they continued walking. "Why do you think we were able to come back to the DigitalWorld even after we defeated MaloMyotismon?"

"It's like the way we were able to come back the first time, I guess," he responded with a shrug. "After we defeated Apocylamon it took a few years but we were able to come back because we had to defeat MaloMyotismon. The reason we could come back now was so we could stop Diaboromon."

"But how is he still alive?" Kari wondered. "We've defeated him two times before, it's like he refuses to go away."

"This _is_ the DigitalWorld, Kar'. Since Diaboromon is technically a virus I guess he keeps coming back to life because of the darkness helping him regain his strength," TK said slowly as he gathered the thoughts in his head. "If we could beat him two times, we can definitely beat him again."

"You really think so?" Kari asked.

"I know so," TK responded. _'Why is Kari so negative about everything lately? What's gotten into her?' _"Kar-" His voice got caught in his throat and he backed away in shock. A dark wisp of smoke seemed to come out of the ground and wrap itself around her. "Kari!" Was all TK could get out before the ground opened up and she fell. "Kari!" he shouted before throwing himself onto the ground and grabbing her hand at the last second. She slowly lifted her head and gave him a seemingly lifeless stare before she felt out of his grasp. _'No! Not again! Please, not again!'_

* * *

"Grrrrr! We're _never_ going to find them!" Yolei cried out as she clenched her hands into fists. "The DigitalWorld is just too big!"

"Keep the hope, Yolei, we'll find them," Hawkmon said as she walked next to her.

"Willis said himself that he hasn't been here before. If he was dragged here he won't know where to go. And he doesn't have Terriermon or Lopmon with him so he probably won't be protected from the other Digimon here."

"I'm sure he can take care of himself," Hawkmon added, hastily trying to calm her down. He knew that it wouldn't be easy. When Yolei set her mind on something it was hard for her to break her concentration. It was great that she was so worried about her friends, but Hawkmon could see that it would end up clouding her mind and she may make bad decisions out of it.

"We should have stuck together," Yolei said more to herself than to anyone else.

"But we wouldn't have been able to cover this much ground," Cody commented. "I sent a message to Tai and the others telling them about what happened. They said they would get here as fast as they could."

"Great, we need more reinforcements now that we know what the Chrysalimon can do," Yolei said with a sigh. "Oh, I wonder if Mimi is coming. I hope she is. She still has that cute top I want to borrow."

"Yolei, shouldn't you focus on the task at hand?" Cody asked as Armadillomon chuckled a little.

"You're right, sorry," Yolei apologized as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I wonder if she has that scarf I wanted to borrow," she muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Hawkmon muttered as both he and Armadillomon turned their heads. "Did you hear that?"

"I sure did," Armadillomon responded. "Let's go investigate," he declared before the two ran off.

"Hey, wait!" Cody called after them. "Armadillomon, slow down!"

"Hawkmon! Come back!"

Yolei and Cody ran after Hawkmon and Armadillomon, who were moving incredibly fast through the woods. Cody was barely able to jump over a log that got in his way as he panted and ran as fast as he could to keep up with their Digimon.

"Yolei!"

"Cody!"

Yolei turned her head and saw David and Ken running by them. "Hey guys."

"I see your Digimon ran off too," Davis panted as they all fell into step as they continued to run after their Digimon.

"What do you think it was that they heard?" Ken asked as he ducked to avoid running into a tree branch that hung low in the area.

"Hard to say," Cody responded. "We didn't hear anything."

They continued running, their Digimon blurs ahead of them. Finally they made it out to the beach where the dark ocean was lapping against the dark sand. Davis expected their Digimon to stop but they continued running. "Hey look," Davis muttered when he saw TK and Patamon kneeling by a hole in the sand. "What happened, T.J.?"

"It...it just opened up and swallowed her..." he choked out as he stared down into the whole.

"What did?" Veemon asked. "What are you talking about?"

"This...thing made out of the darkness wrapped around Kari and dragged her down," TK finally got out. "I tried to grab her and pull her back up but..."

"It was too strong and pulled her down," Patamon finished for him and TK nodded in agreement.

"Let's check it out," Wormmon said before jumping into the hole. Armadillomon, Hawkmon, and Veemon quickly followed him.

"Wormmon!" Ken cried as he leaned towards the hole.

"Don't!" TK cried, grabbing his arm and stopping him. He looked up into Ken's violet eyes. "It was the darkness that took Kari, I know it. It could grab you too if you're not careful."

"This is your fault, TS!" Davis shouted, pushing Ken away to get to TK. "You should've been looking out for Kari. Instead you let her get captured!"

"Davis!" Yolei said in an angry tone as she reached out to grab his arm.

"No Yolei, Davis...is right," TK muttered as he lowered his head. Davis let go of his arm and peered at TK in confusion. TK never agreed with Davis on anything..._ever_! "This is my fault. I should've been looking out for her. I could have stopped this, but I didn't."

"You couldn't do anything, TK," Ken told him in a soft voice. "It just happened. Gatomon is with her, I'm sure she can bring Kari back."

TK forced a small smile and nodded. _'But what if she doesn't come back this time?'_

"Gatomon, it's so cold...so dark," Kari muttered as they walked through the tunnel. "How long have we been walking? It feels like ages."

"We should go back, Kari," Gatomon told her as she hurried to join her partner by her side. "This doesn't feel right."

"Wait," Kari muttered. "I hear something...I hear voices."

Gatomon's eyes narrowed as her ears twitched slightly. "It's Willis. I can hear him talking. Judging by how faint it sounds...he's about twenty feet away. Give or take."

"Let's go."

* * *

Kari and Gatomon ran down the tunnel, trying to get to their friends as quickly as possible. "There they are." Gatomon ran over to Willis's side and inspected him. He was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest; his head was resting on his knees. His broken arm hung looser than his other arm. Terriermon, Lopmon, and Crystal were on his other side, shaking him as if it would pull him back to reality.

"Willis! Snap out of it!" Crystal snapped as she shook him, but he wouldn't budge.

"It's the darkness," Kari announced as she walked over to them. She gently placed her hands on Willis's shoulders and shook him. "Willis? It's Kari. You can fight this, I know you can," she told him gently.

"It's my entire fault," he muttered under his breath as he lifted his eyes, his blue eyes void of any emotion. He was looking at Kari but his gaze made it seem like he was looking through them. "We could be destroyed because of me. I don't deserve to live."

"Gatomon!" Veemon called out as he, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon rushed over to them. "We came as fast as we could."

"What's going on?" Wormmon asked as he pushed his way past the standing Digimon.

"Sssh," Gatomon shushed them as she held up a claw, signaling them to be quiet.

"Don't say that," Kari said in the same firm but gentle tone. "You're the only one who knows how to deal with a Digimon like this first hand. We need you Willis, all of us do. We can't do this without you."

"You...can't?" Willis asked as his eyes widened slightly.

"No," Terriermon added as he and Lopmon came into his line of vision. "Us especially. We can't digivolved without you."

"We need you Willis," Lopmon added as he gripped Willis's hand. "Terriermon and I need you. Please, come back to us. Please, Willis."

"Come back Willis, we can fight this," Kari told him. "The darkness can't win, let the light take over." As Kari said this, she started to glow bright pink. The light filled the tunnel, causing the rest of them to have to cover their eyes. Kari slowly closed her eyes and focused the light on entering Willis's mind as she tightened her grip on him.

"You need me..." Willis muttered.

"Yes Willis, we need you," Kari confirmed as she let go of his shoulders. The familiar light returned to Willis's eyes as he gripped Lopmon's hand in his. The light got brighter, so bright it was almost blinding. When it disappeared they were all gathered on the beach. Davis, Ken, Cody, and Yolei ran over to them

"Are you ok?" Yolei asked as Kari pulled Willis to his feet. "What happened to you? How did you get sent here? How come Terriermon and Lopmon are here but Icemon isn't?"

"I don't know. All I remember was standing in the hallway and then we were brought here," Willis responded. "We got attacked by Diaboromon before we got separated. Terriermon and Lopmon found me before going back to find her. Somehow Terriermon and Lopmon came with me while Icemon was left behind."

"Why didn't you try to contact us?" Davis asked angrily. "Or did you think that you could handle everything by yourself? If you've forgotten, we're a team now and you don't have to do everything by yourself."

"I tried to contact you but my message wouldn't go through," Willis responded.

"The same thing happened with me," Kari spoke up.

"And me," TK agreed.

"And me. It's like something was blocking the signal," Ken agreed.

"Guys, I think we have bigger problems," Cody pointed out. They all turned around and recoiled in shock when they saw that Chrysalimon had them surrounded. No matter where they turned, a Chrysalimon was blocking their path.

"Oh no!" Kari gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Guys, we can take them, I know we can," Davis said as Veemon joined him by his side. "Are you ready Veemon?"

"Ready! Veemon digivolved to...ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon!" Ken called as Wormmon crawled to his side.

"I'm ready, Ken. Wormmon digivolved to...Stingmon!"

"Hawkmon," Yolei called as she pulled out her Digivice.

"Hawkmon digivolved to...Aquilamon."

"Armadillomon digivolved to...Ankylamon."

"Patamon digivolved to...Angemon."

"Guys, you have to DNA Digivolve!" Davis called to them. In a matter of seconds Silphymon, Shakkoumon, and Imperialdramon Fighter Mode were by their side. "Willis, make sure Terriermon and Lopmon are safe. We'll keep them on reserve just in case something happens."

"No. I want to fight," Willis spoke up.

"You're in no condition to fight, just do what Davis says," Crystal told him in a stern tone. Willis clenched his hands into fists, wincing slightly, but nodded. Terriermon and Lopmon got onto his shoulders, hooking an ear around his neck to stay on.

"_Internet Surge_!" One by one each Chrysalimon launched a beam of energy out of the spike at the bottom of the Digimon. They sped towards the DigiDestined, although to them it felt like it was moving in slow motion.

"_Burst Flame_!" Imperialdramon Fighter mode suddenly burst into flames. He ran around the DigiDestined so fast that they became incased in a wall of fire. They heard dull thuds and saw smoke rise from the flames when the attack from the Chrysalimon connected with the fire wall.

"How are we going to defeat these things?" Yolei wondered. "They have us surrounded and they can de-digivolve our Digimon easily."

"Don't give up hope," Ken told her. "We can beat them, I know we can."

"But how?"

"The light!" TK suddenly shouted before turning to Kari. "Hika', you can use your light to help empower our Digimon."

"I don't know if I can do that, TK," Kari admitted as she locked eyes with him.

"I _know _you can. You used the light to help us many times. Your light helped us defeat Machinedramon, it helped Gatomon and Aquilamon DNA digivolved to Silphymon."

"And just now it helped Willis leave the darkness," Crystal added, catching on. "You can do it Kari, just let the light guide you."

"Hurry, I think the wall is starting to weaken," Cody pointed out as he looked around. "Silphymon, Shakkoumon, get ready to attack!"

"Ok, I'll try," Kari muttered before closing her eyes. She squeezed them shut and clenched her hands into fists as wind started to blow around them. The dark clouds broke to let a beam of pink light shine down and hit Kari. The beam of light, in return, shot out to Imperialdramon, Silphymon, and Shakkoumon.

The light faded the same time the fire died down. Kari raised a hand to her head and dropped to her knees. TK immediately ran to her side and helped her to her feet. Davis growled under his breath.

"Not now, we don't have time for this," Ken told him as he elbowed Davis in the side.

"I can feel the light's strength," Imperialdramon muttered. "C'mon guys, let's wipe out these bugs."

'Right. _Static Force_!" Sylphimon called out as he shot an energy beam at the Chrysalimon. With the power of the light the energy ball was large than normal, it was about the size of WarGreymon's Terra Force attack. The Chrysalimon directly in front of Silphymon tried to scramble out of the way but they were hit directly. The force of the energy ball caused a giant explosion that sent shockwaves at the DigiDestined. TK used his body to protect Kari's ad he clenched his teeth in pain as the shock wave was sent through them.

"Way to go!" Yolei cheered as Silphymon smirked.

"Wow," Terriermon and Lopmon gasped in unison.

"It's your turn, Shakkoumon," Cody called to the large Digimon.

"_Kachina Bombs!_" Shakkoumon fired clay disks at the Chrysalimon. With the help of the power of light, the bombs were bigger and flew at the Chrysalimon faster. As the bombs flew out of the Shakkoumon, he spun around, causing the discs to fly out at different groups of Shakkoumon. Those Chrysalimon had no time to scatter before they were caught in the explosions. This explosion was so large that it pushed Davis and Ken, who were closer to the explosions, back a couple of feet.

"Imperialdramon!" Davis called.

"Go get them!" Ken ordered.

The laser on the Imperialdramon's arm started to glow a bright pink. The ground started to shake as Imperialdramon harnessed more and more power.

"We have to move," TK suddenly called out. "We're too close; we'll be hurt by the explosion." He looked down at Kari. "Can you walk?" He asked her.

"I think so," Kari responded weakly.

"Let me help you anyway," TK said as he put his right arm around her waist and her left arm around his shoulders. He helped her move away from the Digimon, which was hard seeing that the ground was shaking even more than it had before. They scrambled over to a large rock that was nearby and crouched down behind it, the rest of the DigiDestined quickly followed their lead.

"_Positron Laser!_" The laser shot out a large beam of energy. The light was so bright they all had to cover their eyes. They quickly covered their ears when there was a deafening explosion. They could feel the shockwave from the explosion race through the ground. They were knocked over by the trembling of the ground before everything became still and everything was quiet.

Davis slowly lifted his head and looked over the top of the rock. He smiled when he saw Chibomon, Leafmon, Tsubumon, Tokomon, Pururumon, and Salamon were jumping up and down and laughing. The area around them was clear and the Dark Ocean seemed a little bit brighter, despite the dark waves that lapped against the beach.

"Great job, guys!" Davis said as he ran over to Chibomon and picked him up.

"We couldn't have done it without Kari," TK pointed out as he smiled at Kari who gave a gracious one back that caused TK to blush and turn his attention to Tokomon. _'Even in a dark place her smile can easily light it up.'_

"Finally, we can go home," Yolei sighed.

"No we can't!" Crystal declared. "We have to find Icemon first."

"He's not here," Davis told her.

"You don't know that!" Crystal snapped as she clenched her hands into fists.

"You don't know that he is here," Ken told her. "It would be better if we get out of here and check at home. If he _is_ here we can come back and look for him."

"But what if he's here and we leave him behind? He could get attacked by a powerful Digimon," Crystal said in a firm tone, signaling that she wouldn't leave without her partner by her side. Ordinarily Willis would have been admired by her tenacity, but right now it was getting on his nerves only because she wasn't thinking straight.

"Ken is right, Crys. We should go back and check if he's home. After a good night's sleep we can start early tomorrow," Willis told her.

She stayed silent, glaring at the ground. Willis knew she was taking his words to heart, even though she was too tough to admit it. "Fine," she growled through clenched teeth.

"It'll be ok. I promise, I'll find him," Willis told her.

"Whatever," she said in a dismissive tone.

"We just need to find something that will take us out of here," Cody pointed out.

"There's a TV in the woods. That's how I got here, Izzy showed it to me," Ken announced. "Follow me." As the DigiDestined walked off the beach and into the Dark Forest their Digimon slowly fell asleep, snoring softly as their partners carried them.

_'This isn't right. At least on Chrysalimon turned into a Diaboromon, so where was he? Maybe he changed back into a Chrysalimon by wasting too much energy when he attacked me. Yeah, that must be it,' _Willis told himself as he followed everyone else.

Once they were back in the Real World everyone gathered in the park. Willis told his side of the story before Kari, TK, and the others jumped in to tell their side. They were all silent throughout the story. Once they were finished they turned to look at Izzy who had a very thoughtful look on his face.

"So, Izzy, why was it that they were able to defeat the Chrysalimon?" Tai asked him.

"Because of Kari's light," Izzy responded after a couple of seconds of silence. "The light is a very powerful thing, but the power seemed to double when you were in the Dark Ocean. Because of that, your attacks doubled in strength which was how they defeated the Chrysalimon so easily."

"Ok, but how do you think we were taken there?" Willis asked.

"The same way Kari was taken there the first time," Izzy suggested. "It has to do with the darkness inside of you two."

"How can Kari have darkness inside of her?" Tai spoke up.

"Yeah. Isn't her crest the Crest of Light?" Sora agreed.

"It is," Izzy admitted. "But to Light there is Darkness."

"So, how was Willis taken there? It doesn't make sense," Cody spoke up.

"Yes it does," Izzy replied. "Willis still has to deal with the mistake he made all those years ago. That memory is strong enough to get the Dark Ocean to drag him there."

"You defeated all of the Chrysalimon, you said?" Matt asked.

"That's right," TK said with a nod.

"That was the only threat we had, right? Does that mean that the DigitalWorld is safe now?" He asked looking over in Izzy's direction.

"We can assume that," Izzy responded slowly. "But I'll keep tabs on the DigitalWorld just in case. If anything happens I'll contact you, but I wouldn't be too worried if I were you."

"If the meeting is over I have to get back. I have a class soon," Joe said as he got to his feet.

"I'm going to head home. Kari, do you want a lift?" Tai asked her. She nodded and the two left the park. Matt and TK followed them while Sora departed to get to her Tennis practice. Davis, Ken, Yolei, and Cody left, saying that they either had practice or homework to do.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Izzy said as he closed his laptop and stood up from his position on the bench. "I found Icemon flying around the school trying to find you, Crystal. He's back at my house so you can come over and get him."

"Ah, thank you so much, Koushi-kun," she said with a small smile.

Willis rolled his eyes as Terriermon looked at him in confusion wile Lopmon laughed.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Crystal!" Icemon cried out as he flew straight into her arms, knocking her back onto Izzy's bed in the process. He nuzzled against her as a big smile spread across his face. Crystal held him tight and rubbed his head as his wings beat in happiness. "Nya, where did you go? I couldn't find you."

"Bonehead over here ended up dragging me to the Dark Ocean," she responded as she cut her eyes over at Willis who was standing by the door, quietly.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Willis growled through clenched teeth. "It's not like I had control over this."

"Um, in a way you do," Izzy spoke up quickly, trying to stop their argument. "You can control the darkness that's in you. It's those little times when you let your guard down that something like this happens."

"Is there a way to stop it?" Willis asked as he clung onto Terriermon and Lopmon in a slightly tighter embrace. He knew if anything like that happened again, there was a good chance that Terriermon and Lopmon would be destroyed.

"I'm sorry to say I don't know, but you can ask Kari about it, maybe she knows a way," Izzy responded. Willis nodded in understanding as he tried to hide the fear that was evident in his eyes. "She's been able to hide it for the past few years so she must have come up with a plan."

"Kari has the Crest of Light, right?" Crystal spoke up.

"That's right," Izzy responded with a nod.

"So I understand how she has to deal with the darkness, but why him?" She nodded in Willis's direction as he spun around in Izzy's swivel chair.

"That's like asking how Kari can feel the darkness," Izzy told her. "We've never been able to understand it because the rest of us can't feel it like she can. She just can. For Willis, I'm assuming it's because of past experiences that have opened something in you."

"You can say it, I've accepted my mistake," Willis told him as he let out a slow breath. Terriermon and Lopmon, who were surprisingly quiet, looked up at him in admiration. Terriermon knew more than anyone how much pain Willis went through knowing that he was the reason that Diaboromon had almost destroyed the world. He convinced himself and his Digimon that he had gotten over it and that he wouldn't worry about the past, but Terriermon knew better. He knew that Willis thought about it every day and that it left a scar on his heart. "I've accepted my responsibilities. I now know that this isn't a game we're living and some of my choices will affect everyone around me."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," Izzy told him, an apologetic tone laced into his defensive tone.

"You didn't," Willis said tightly before he stood. "I have to get home, my mother is expecting me. Thank you, Izzy." He bowed before walking out of the room.

"I hope I didn't upset him," Izzy said as he turned to face Crystal.

"You didn't, he's always been like that, ever since the Wendigomon incident," Crystal responded as she let out a sigh. "He wasn't like that before..."

"What do you mean?" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"After he and the others defeated the virus that was in Wendigomon, Willis seemed to be happier, he had his friends back. I was convinced that he put the past behind him and realize that no one blamed him for his mistake. Soon, he became moody and snapped at everyone, it got worse around the time of the anniversary. He keeps saying he's over it...but I know that he isn't. I don't think he'll ever get over what he did. I'm getting tired of constantly telling him that it wasn't his fault and that he isn't to blame."

"So why are you here?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"His mom and my Dad work together," she responded.

"Yes, but you could have left him alone and let him suffer by himself," he pointed out. "There has to be some reason you decided to help him."

"What're you getting at?" She asked as her eyes narrowed and Izzy smirked.

"I just think you have an anterior motive as to why you're helping him," he responded with a shrug as Crystal's glare hardened.

* * *

"I don't understand, Gatomon," Kari said as she rested her chin on her arms. She was lying down on her bed, a book was on the bed but she wasn't paying attention to it as much as before. She was too lost in thought to pay attention to it.

"What don't you understand, Kari?" Gatomon asked as she jumped up onto her bed. She moved around in a circle a couple of times before curling into a ball next to her.

"How Diaboromon came back," she responded. "It seems like he came from the middle of nowhere. He was destroyed last time, in the middle of the city, we saw it."

"He is part Digimon, part virus," Gatomon told her. "Maybe the virus keeps getting regenerated."

"But how?"

"They seemed to be stronger in the Dark Ocean, maybe it's the darkness," Gatomon suggested. "But I think we destroyed the last bit of the virus and Izzy said that he would keep an eye on the DigitalWorld just in case so you shouldn't worry."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kari agreed. She was startled when the phone started to ring but quickly got over the shock and answered it. "Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Hika', are you still up or did I wake you?" TK asked. Kari giggled at the scared tone that was in his voice. He always made her laugh.

"I was all ready awake," she responded. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?" She asked after a couple of seconds of listening to his heavy breathing.

"Um...yeah," he said in a shaky voice. Her eyebrows knitted together when she heard him clear his throat. Gatomon gave her a questioning look but she held up her finger. "Um, I was just wondering...if you're not too busy that is...if maybe you'd want to...do something with me after school."

"Uhhh," she stalled as thoughts raced through her head. _'Is he asking me out? Oh gosh. It's TK; he's been my best friend since forever. Oh gosh, do I feel that way about him? Does he feel that way about me? He must if he's asking me out. Oh gosh, oh gosh. Think Kari, he's still on the line!'_

"Kar'? Are you still there?" TK asked with desperation in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm still here," she responded quickly.

"So? Do you want to do something?" He repeated.

"Uhhh," _'Way to go, Kamiya. Say something else besides _uh. _He's your friend, what can go wrong? Give him a chance..._' "Sure, that's sounds like a good idea," she responded with a smile, ignoring the nervousness to her voice.

"R-really?" TK asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Kari said with a giggle. "What were you thinking of doing?"

"I don't know; go see a movie or something? Or take a walk in the park? Or go ice skating?" He suggested. Kari could practically see the smile that was on her face and it made her smile knowing that she put him in a good mood.

"Ice skating sounds good, I haven't been ice skating in a while." Kari grinned at the thought of spending time with him. She hasn't been able to spend time alone with him properly because Davis always found a way to but in. He was a good friend, but sometimes he didn't know his limits.

"Ok, meet me outside right after school."

"Ok, goodnight, Takeru."

"Goodnight, Hikari."

Kari put down the phone and went back to reading her book. Gatomon's paw suddenly blocked her vision and she looked up at her feline friend who was grinning at her. "TK finally asked you out?" She asked.

"What do you mean finally?" Kari asked as she pushed away Gatomon's paw and closed the book.

"Everyone knows that TK has a crush on you," Gatomon told her.

"TK?" Kari repeated as she stretched her arms above her head and leaned back against her pillow. "Takeru Takaishi?"

"Yes, _that_ TK. He's always liked you, we could tell. You're the only one who doesn't know," she responded as she curled into a ball by Kari's head. Kari turned off the light and settled into bed and tried to get to sleep but her thoughts were racing. _'TK has a crush on me? No, that can't be it; he's just my friend...right? Oh gosh, I'm so confused. Part of me wants it to be a date but the other part wants it to strictly be only a friend's thing. Maybe I can get Yolei and Ken to come with us...'_

She woke up the next morning exhausted because of her lack of sleep because of her confused thoughts. She forced herself out of bed and jumped in the shower to wake herself up and to try and get her thoughts straight. She just couldn't come to the conclusion that TK liked her as more than a friend. More so, she forced herself not to get to the conclusion that TK liked her as more than a friend. She liked him like that once the year before, only to get her heart crushed when he went out with another girl. Ever since then she told herself to destroy any romantic feeling she had towards him. So why did she agree to go out with him? She didn't even know, and right now she wanted to get out of it without hurting him.

"Kari, TK's here," her mother called as Kari brushed her hair. Kari closed her eyes briefly before letting out a breath.

"Coming Mom," Kari called back as she put her brush down before putting her signature red clip into her hair. She then quickly packed her backpack with her school books. She checked her room to make sure she had everything before holding it out for Gatomon to get into.

"You need to find a better way to get me to your school," Gatomon grumbled as she got into her backpack.

"Sorry Gatomon," Kari apologized before buckling her backpack and put it onto her back. She left the room to see TK waiting patiently by the front door. He turned and smiled at her when he spotted her and she gave him a weak smile in return. If he noticed he didn't say anything as he waited for her to change her shoes before they left the apartment.

"Is everything ok?" TK asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that fell over them.

"Yes," Kari responded with a small yawn. "I'm sorry; I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I hope that isn't my fault," TK said as his eyes widened.

"No, it's not your fault," Kari quickly told him. "I just had a lot on my mind. I was talking with Gatomon last night, she thinks that the only reason Diaboromon was back was because it was his left over virus. She thinks we've defeated it this time."

"Patamon told me the same thing," TK admitted. "I want to believe him, but something tells me not to let my guard down. I'm going to go talk to Izzy about it later."

Kari nodded and let out a breath of relief when they arrived at the school. She muttered an excuse about having to talk to Yolei and rushed inside. She wove her way through the crowd of students as she rushed to get to her locker. When she reached it she noticed Yolei grinning evilly as an annoyed look crossed Crystal's features.

"What's going on?" Kari asked as she opened her locker door.

"Guess where she was last night," Yolei said without taking her eyes off of Crystal. Before Kari could answer she blurted out, "She spent the night at Izzy's house."

Kari raised her eyebrows as Crystal let out a frustrated sigh before closing her locker door. Her eyes shifted when she noticed Kari and Yolei looking at her. Kari opened her mouth and Crystal quickly growled, "Nothing happened."

"I wasn't going to ask anything about that," Kari said as she shook her head.

"But your quick response makes me think different," Yolei added with a sly smile.

"What I was _going_ to ask is if you two wanted to come ice skating with TK and I after school," Kari said with a small smile.

"Does he know you're asking us to go with you?" Yolei asked her.

"No, but I'm sure he won't mind," Kari said with a shrug.

"What if he thinks of it as a date? Then we'd be intruding," she pointed out as Kari put her backpack into her locker and opened it so Gatomon could come out without anyone noticing.

"I tried telling her the same thing, her mind's been made up," Gatomon told Yolei as she gave Kari a pointed look. She ignored it as she got her books for her first period class and closed the locker door. Gatomon was like Kari's conscience and Kari was glad that she silenced it for a while.

"If you really want me to come with you I will," Yolei said slowly. "But realize if TK gets mad or something then it wasn't my idea. You two need to spend some time together."

"We're _always_ together, though," Kari pointed out.

"That's now what I meant, and you know it. Why're you holding yourself back, Kari?" Kari didn't answer but looked down at the ground. "Crystal, you try getting through to her."

"I'm not good with affairs of the heart," she commented in a dull tone as she leaned against her locker. "If you really want to know if it's a date or not, just _ask_ TK. It's not that hard."

The girls dropped the conversation when Willis walked up to his locker. The air around him radiated with hostility which only fueled their concern for him.

"Willis, is everything ok?" Kari asked hesitantly. He looked over at her and she flinched from the anger that was smoldering behind his blue eyes.

"Ask her," he muttered under his breath as he glared at Crystal before slamming his locker door shut. Crystal blinked at the sound but otherwise didn't show any emotion on her face.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise," Yolei muttered under her breath.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**_Willis's POV_**

"Willis," Terriermon whispered as I spun around in a chair in the computer room. "Willis," he called a little bit louder, but I ignored him as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think of something. "Willis."

"_What_ Terriermon?" I demanded as I spun around to face him. He and Lopmon were sitting in the cupboard of the computer room. Everyone had left hours ago but I stayed behind to get some research done, but I hadn't been able to solve anything.

"Don't be mad at us, Willis," Lopmon said softly.

"I'm not mad, I'm…frustrated," I responded as I let out a breath. "I mean, there has to be some reason that you two can't digivolve while everyone else can. It doesn't make sense."

"Can Icemon digivolve?" Lopmon asked. "Maybe it has something to do with everyone else. Do they have something we don't?"

I rested my cheek on my palm as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think. They were able to DNA digivolve, while Terriermon, Lopmon, and Icemon couldn't. Icemon could digivolve once but I don't think he's able to do it again. What else…."Terriermon!" I suddenly shouted as I turned to face him. "Remember when we were fighting Wendigomon? And Seraphimon and Magnadramon appeared?"

"Yeah," Terriermon exclaimed excitedly, suddenly catching on. "They were able to release the Golden DigiEggs. I think that's the reason why we can't Digivolve, we don't have Digieggs."

"Are there any left? I heard Izzy say something about finding all of the ones they could in the surrounding area," Lopmon spoke up.

"But we haven't looked in the entire surrounding area," I pointed out. "Who knows how big the Digital World is anyway?"

"But…what if Diaboromon attacks you while you're in there?" Lopmon asked.

"Diaboromon has been defeated. Izzy and I haven't been able to track him if there were parts of him left," I responded. "What are you so afraid of?" Before he could answer the sliding door was pulled open. I couldn't even jump out of my seat before the person walked into the room. "Oh, it's just you," I sighed as Crystal stepped into the room.

"Thanks for the welcome," she muttered sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Nerd," she responded. "Get your stuff, we're going ice skating."

"Why?" I asked as I opened my arms for Terriermon and Lopmon to jump into. I caught them easily and cradled them in my arms slightly before moving over towards my backpack.

"Because Kari's being a wimp and won't go alone with TK so now we're going with them," she responded as Terriermon moved to my shoulder so I could grab my backpack and slip it on over my shoulder.

"Like a date?" I questioned as I locked eyes with her.

"What?" She asked as she blinked.

"You said that Kari won't go alone with TK. Was it supposed to be like a date?" I questioned.

"Who knows?" She responded with a shrug. "But they want us to meet them there so get a move on." I nodded before checking to make sure Terriermon was secure around my neck. "No one's around so they're free to move and talk," she added as we stepped out into the hallway.

"Good, 'cause we have a theory about why we can't digivolve," Lopmon spoke up.

"You can't either? I was wondering if it was only Icemon," she muttered. "What's your theory?"

"We think it has something to do with DigiEggs," I responded with a sigh. I really wanted to keep the theory a secret while I had time to figure it all out. "Everyone else's Digimon can Digivolve and ours can't. They all also have DigiEggs while we don't. I think having DigiEggs will give them enough power to Armor Digivolve like the others can and give them enough power to Digivolve normally."

"That didn't a make a difference before, though," Crystal pointed out as we walked down the hallway towards the exit of the school. "Maybe we should talk to Izzy about this."

"I can figure this out on my own, thank you very much," I snapped as I held Lopmon tighter.

"What is your problem today?" She demanded as she turned her head slightly so she could see me out of the corner of her eye. "You've yelled at me at almost every opportunity you've had. What in the world did I do?"

"Why don't you go ask Izzy?"

"Is _that_ what this is all about?" Crystal let out a heavy sigh. "It was too late for me to go home, get over it! Nothing happened. Besides, last I checked, _you're_ the one who introduced me to him; you put him on such a high pedestal because he helped defeat Diaboromon, so excuse me for being a little star-struck!"

"Star-struck?" I repeated before squeezing my eyes shut from the bright sun that had begun to set. I always forget about that and I always end up hurting my eyes after a long day of school. "You're acting like you're in love with the guy."

"And _you_ sound like a jealous boyfriend," she shot back. "I barley know him, anyway. That'd be like if I ever liked…Tai or Matt or…or…_Davis._" She shuddered as she said his name and I could feel a smile forming on my lips. "Besides, I have my hands full with the trouble you cause to worry about getting a boyfriend."

"The trouble _I_ cause! Name one time I've caused trouble," I challenged her as I sped up to catch up with her pace.

"Diaboromon, the Supermarket Incident, The Dog Chase Incident, the–" she counted on her fingers of her free hand as she held Icemon to her chest.

"I said _one_ time," I reminded her as I lowered her hand. "You always have to remind me of my bad times, don't you?"

"Of course," she responded with a smile as we started walking again. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be me."

"Loser," I muttered.

"Nerd," she shot back.

* * *

**_Normal POV_**

"Why didn't you say anything about not being able to ice skate?" Yolei asked Ken as she looked at him clinging to the wall. He blushed in embarrassment as he opened his mouth to respond but let out a yelp before falling to the ice. She laughed before holding out her hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Soccer is my thing, not ice skating," he muttered as his legs shook slightly. He lifted a foot to move only to feel himself slipping so he grabbed her on the arm, only to blush harder. "If you could…"

"Help you off the ice?" Yolei finished for him. "Sure. Just…ahh…just hold onto me, I guess," she stated, turning her head so he wouldn't see her blushing. They, clumsily, made their way off of the ice and over to the bench where TK sat, stirring his hot collocate with his straw as he cupped his right cheek with his hand, an annoyed look on his face.

He couldn't blame everyone for coming with them. He wasn't the one who stated whether it was a date or not, no matter how much he wanted it to be a date. He didn't want to pressure Kari into, especially since he didn't know her feelings towards him, even though she made it clear numerous times that she thought of him like a protective brother.

He groaned inwardly when he saw Tai and Sora skating around, laughing. He was surprised that they took time away from college to do something as low-key as ice skating with everyone. But, when word spreads through the group, it really spreads and a small activity always ends up as a party to the group.

He hated how Tai and Sora were like an older version of himself and Kari. He could tell how much Tai cared for her and it only made him feel worse for not being able to tell his best friend how he felt about her. It's easy for him to talk to her about anything else, but when it comes to his true feelings about her, he clams up.

It seemed surreal to him that only a few days before they were fighting Diaboromon again and now everything seemed to go back to normal. TK smiled a little when he saw Davis trying to show off, like always, only to land hard on his stomach on the ice as Kari giggled. Something about Davis hurting himself in front of Kari gave him a weird satisfaction, which was Yolei easily caught onto.

"You know, you're making it very obvious," Yolei stated as she gave TK a sly smile.

"I'm making what very obvious?" he asked as he shifted his attention to the violet haired girl.

"Don't play dumb."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," TK said as he shook his head, partially from how straightforward Yolei was being and partially because he saw Matt talking so some girls that were giggling and blushing. No matter where he went, Matt was being hit on by some girls. TK was amazed that he didn't go crazy from all of the attention.

"You and Kari," she responded. "I know you like her. Heck, we all know you do. So why don't you just tell her all ready? She deserves to know."

TK let out a slow breath before locking eyes with her. "I don't like Kari in that way," he told her a well rehearsed lie that he made sure was filled with every ounce of convincing he had. "How many times do I have to say it until you believe me?"

"You can say it all you want, but your eyes are giving you away," Yolei said in a sing song voice as TK fought to roll his eyes. "Just let me tell you this, TK. If you don't act upon your deepest desires, it's going to end up eating away at you until you do something about it. Otherwise, you're going to wind up wondering 'what if…' for the rest of your life."

TK remained silent as he let Yolei's words sink in. That was almost the same thing Patamon had told him earlier, after he had hung up after his conversation with Kari. He held his face in his hands as he pushed everything out of his mind.

"Umm, Yolei–" Ken spoke up as his eyes shifted back and forth from Yolei, who was staring at TK intently, and TK, who wasn't paying attention to anyone else "–Let's go get some hot chocolate."

"But I don't want…" she started to say but stopped when he rested his piercing purple eyes on her. It was the look that he gave her that meant for her to shut up and go along with what he was suggesting. She got it often and it always made her weak at the knees. "Uh, sure," she agreed before standing and, slowly, made their way over to the booth, still in their skates, leaving TK in his thoughts.

"You can stop laughing now," Willis grumbled as he pulled his skates off of his feet. "This is the _last_ time you convince me to come here."

"Don't feel bad," Crystal told him, the smile never leaving her face. "Izzy couldn't skate either, it must be a genius thing," she added when Izzy dropped down in a seat next to Willis.

"It's simple Geometry and Physics," Izzy muttered as he pulled his skates off of his feet.

"While you're here, Willis has a theory about why Terriermon, Lopmon, and Icemon can't Digivolve," Crystal suddenly announced as she lowered her voice. She sat back and listened as Willis explained to Izzy what his theory was. Izzy stayed silent, taking in every word Willis said.

"That might be a possibility. It's like I said before, we didn't know there was a crest of kindness until it was found at Ken's base so there could be new DigiEggs in the DigitalWorld. I'll get some Digimon to be on the lookout for it. In the mean time, I don't want you two stressing over this. Be grateful that nothing bad has happened."

"Yet," Crystal spoke up. "Remember that prophecy? It's going to eventually come true, sooner or later."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"I told you that you would only hurt yourself if you challenged Matt to _Crack the Whip_," Sora told Tai as she gently pressed an ice pack to his side. He grunted at the sudden chill that went up his side before holding the ice bag in place. He felt his face heat up when he lightly brushed his fingers against Sora's before she could move her hand out of the way.

Sometimes Tai hated having Sora as a best friend, because he knew he would eventually fall for her, which he did. He can't go a day without thinking of her and it killed him because he didn't know if she felt the same way or if she only thought of him as a friend. On many occasions she would treat him just like she would treat the boyfriend she had at the time, which made Tai think that she liked him the way he liked her. Other times, such as now, she would act more like a friend to him. Her two different sides was what drove Tai up the wall and all he wanted to do was just hold her and kiss her to find out her feelings.

Tai admitted to himself that he developed feelings for her after the one Christmas when he found her giving cookies to Matt. He egged her on, to get her to do it, but really deep inside he wanted to punch Matt in the face for taking away his dream girl. The feeling escalated when the two started dating the year before and now that they were in their freshman year of college Tai was getting sick of having to see them together in all of his classes.

"Tai? Are you ok?" Sora's voice broke through his angered thoughts as he glared through the wall of glass that separated him from the blond haired rocker.

"Yeah, Sor', I'm fine," Tai responded before he forced a smile that he hoped was believable.

"What's on your mind? I can see the little gears working," she persisted as she lightly poked him in the side of the head.

_'Should I tell her? No, it might ruin her relationship with Matt. It might ruin our friendship. But I have to tell her, I've liked her for so long. If I don't get this off of my chest it will smother me. Tell her...don't tell her...tell her...'_ Tai let out a sigh. "I'm just thinking about Agumon, hoping that he's safe. From what Kari and the others said they should be, but we're not in the DigitalWorld 24/7 so we can't really trust what's happening, can we? I mean, Diaboromon was able to come back. Sometimes, I have these nightmares that..." Tai paused to let out a shaky breath. "Sometimes I have these nightmares that the Dark Masters found a way to return but they were stronger and we had a hard time fighting them."

"Tai, there is no way they can come back," Sora told him.

"How can you be so sure? Diaboromon was able to come back," Tai pointed out.

"Yes, but Diaboromon is part virus. The virus could have been floating around for months now, trying to get back together with itself. The Dark Masters we've defeated and we defeated Apocalymon, who was controlling them. And before you say it, Myotismon was defeated this time so he also can't come back. I can feel it in my bones, Tai."

"But Sora, parts of their data, the corrupted parts, could still be floating around in the DigitalWorld, waiting to take over the newly hatched Digimon so they could reign all over again."

Sora shook her head as she let out a breath. "Believe me when I say that I've been thinking about this too, but don't you think, if they _had_ come back, we would have known by now? The other DigiDestined would've said something about it from the many times they were in the DigitalWorld."

"Yeah, but..." Tai let his sentence trail off as he let Sora's comment sink in. She knew deep down that she was right. If there was the slightest disturbance in the DigitalWorld they would have known by now. Maybe it was that Tai longed for a new adventure... "I guess you're right," he agreed with another sigh.

"I understand where this is coming from. Years nothing has happened and you feel as if the DigitalWorld doesn't need you anymore and you're itching to get away from the norm to go on a new adventure."

"Exactly," Tai exclaimed as he turned so his chocolate eyes locked with Sora's ruby red eyes. "Everything is too...normal for me now. I want to go on a new adventure."

"Be careful what you wish for, Tai, you just might get it," Sora said in a warning tone before looking at her watch. "Oops, I have to go or I'm going to be late for a Tennis meeting." She glanced out at the ice where Matt was trying to help a little girl stand. From the scrunched up expression on her face she had just fallen down. Cody was by Matt's side talking calmly to the girl. Tai flinched at the sigh that escaped Sora's lips because it was a sigh of love. "Could you tell Matt that I had to leave early?"

"Sure," Tai responded.

"Thanks," she said before giving him a hug. "Don't worry Tai, when the DigiWorld needs us, we'll be there for it," she whispered in his ear.

"I know," he told her before he let go of her. She smiled as she stood. She grabbed her ice skates, gave him a little wave, and weaved her way through the crowd to go to the exit.

"What was that about, Taichi-kun?" Kari asked, suddenly appearing by Tai's side, causing him to jump before he looked down at the large smile that was on her face.

"What was what about?" Tai asked in confusion.

"The hug!" Kari responded. "You held onto her for a while there. Like you didn't want to let her go," she said as she lightly elbowed him in the side. Tai didn't reply. "Just admit it, Tai, you like Sora. Really like her. Why don't you tell her?"

"She's dating Matt if you haven't noticed," Tai responded bitterly.

"So? It doesn't mean that she can't know how you feel about her," Kari responded. "If you don't tell her, it's going to continue to eat up at you and eventually it will suffocate you."

"And just how do you know that, Hikari-chan?" Tai asked as he looked down at his sister. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that they have grown up so quickly over a short period of time and Tai find himself unable to let go of the fact that his sister has gotten older and more mature. "Is it because you are going through the same thing with a certain Takaishi?"

Kari just laughed as she gently patted him on the shoulder and rested her head on it. He lifted his arms so he could wrap it around her and pull her closer to him. They rarely had these brother/sister moments but when they did they never spoke, they just let a hug let the other know how much they felt. Kari loved the moments because she knew she would always be safe in his arms. T.K.'s hugs reminded her of Tai's, which was probably a reason why she found herself so attached to him.

"You're right to feel worried about the Dark Masters," Kari spoke up suddenly, causing Tai to look at her in shock. "I've been thinking about it for a while, actually. If Diaboromon was able to come back, the Dark Masters could be able to come back and something tells me, if they did, it would be hard to defeat them this time."

"But our team is stronger now and we have more help. We'll be able to squash those Dark Masters," he tried to reassure her.

"And the prophecy? You know that it's going to come true, just like that last one about Myotismon. It's only a matter of how and when."

"Yeah, but we'll be ready for it," Tai told her. "Izzy's been looking into the prophecy for days now. I'm sure he's close to figuring out what it means exactly. In the meantime-"

"Don't stress over it," Kari interrupted him with a sigh. "You older DigiDestined keep telling us that, but can you honestly tell me that you all don't feel on edge ever since this prophecy came to the surface?" Tai stayed silent. "I didn't think so." Kari slid off of the bench. "Tell me this, Mimi's been told everything, right?"

"Of course, she's an important part of the team," Tai responded.

"Good. We're going to need all of the help we can get this time around. This won't be an ordinary battle for the world, I can feel it."

* * *

"I am never going back there _ever_ again!" Izzy groaned before dropping onto the computer chair of the dorm room he shared with Matt and Tai. Matt went straight to his band rehearsal so Tai had to listen to Izzy complaining about it the entire way back to the dorms.

"Are you saying that because you hated the fact that it was the single thing you couldn't do or because you embarrassed yourself because your butt was glued to the ice the entire time?" Tai asked as he hung up his light jacket and turned to grin at Izzy who was glaring at him. "Don't be mad at me, why did you use Physics or Geometry to help you out on the ice?" Tai asked as he raised his hands in surrender. Izzy remained silent as he spun around in his computer chair so he could face his open laptop. "Unless this has something to do with a _girl._"

Izzy's fingers hovered over the keyboard before he turned around and locked eyes with Tai. "That has _nothing_ to do with a girl," Izzy responded.

"It totally does if that's what turned your attention away from your computer," Tai said as he pulled up a chair and turned it around before sitting down and grinning. "C'mon, out with it Izumi."

Izzy tapped his thumb on the computer desk before turning around again to lock eyes with Tai, who had his eyebrows raised. "First, what are your views on an older guy dating a younger girl?" Once the words left Izzy's mouth a blush rose to his cheeks.

"Ohhh, so this isn't about Mimi?" Tai asked.

"Mimi?" Izzy repeated.

"Yeah. I always thought you had a thing for her. I mean, always protecting her and being there for her while we were in the DigitalWorld..." Tai said.

"I would've done that for Sora or Kari too. It's just...you know Mimi, she needs more attention," Izzy responded.

"To answer your question, I'm fine with it if it's reasonable. I mean, if it's a one year difference that's good in my book. A two year difference I can understand, a three year difference I also get. But anything past that isn't really in my comfort zone. And it also depends on how old the couple in question is." Tai's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I...I guess I kinda..." Izzy muttered in embarrassment.

"Wait...wait..." Tai said as he held up his hand. "The sudden interest in the prophecy, _coincidentally_ finding Icemon, taking care of him, it all suddenly makes sense. You like Kari's friend, that new girl, Crystal."

Izzy opened his mouth to respond when there was a ding on his computer. He whirled around and clicked something before his eyes started scanning the screen. "Prodigious," he muttered to himself.

"What? What is it?" Tai asked as he raced over to Izzy's side.

"Willis was telling me recently how Terriermon and Lopmon can't digivolve. My first thought was that there were more Control Spires around. I got some Digimon to look around and I checked the news but there was nothing so that ruled out my theory. So then Willis thought that it had something to do with not having a DigiEgg, like Davis and the others do. I looked into it, thinking that there were only the eleven that we knew about all ready: Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Knowledge, Reliability, Hope, Light, Kindness, Miracles, and Destiny. Davis has Courage and Friendship and at one time Miracles. Yolei has Love and Sincerity. Cody has Knowledge and Reliability. TK and Kari fittingly have Hope and Light. The DigiEgg of Kindness hasn't been seen but I think Ken had it at one time and it's destroyed now. And Willis _had_ the DigiEgg of Destiny during that battle with Wendigomon. Now, after searching for a while, I found out that there are actually four more DigiEggs: the DigiEggs of Darkness, Pride, Desire, and Tenacity."

"More DigiEggs," Tai repeated. "Does that mean there are other DigiDestined that can obtain it or...or do they belong to Willis and Crystal...or TK and Kari?"

"That I haven't been able to figure out just yet," Izzy admitted. "But, remember the prophecy, it said something about the darkness. _Darkness cannot live without the light, but only one can control all. _It could mean that Kari would end up controlling the DigiEgg of Light and the DigiEgg of Darkness. It would make sense, how Kari could feel the darkness when we couldn't and how she was pulled into the DarkOcean. She is a special girl."

"So you're telling me that there are four other DigiEggs out there that could possibly belong to Willis, Crystal, Kari, and TK?" Tai asked.

"That...or they belong to someone that could destroy the world as we know it," Izzy responded.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Kari couldn't concentrate once she got back to school. Ever since Izzy told Tai about the new DigiEggs, who in turn told her, she's been having nightmares about destruction. In each dream a strong Digimon from their past would be the one that caused the destruction.

Puppetmon.

MetalSeadramon.

Machinedramon.

Piedmon.

MaloMyotismon.

Diaboromon.

They all plagued her dreams and kept her awake at night, afraid to go back to sleep in case it turned out to be her reality.

TK has noticed a change in his best friend's behavior but didn't know how to approach the subject. He didn't want to seem too pushy to try and get information out of her because he knew that she would deny that anything was bothering her. He wasn't the only one who noticed her change in behavior. Yolei has been trying to get Kari to open up ever since she noticed something was wrong, but the only thing she's done is cause Kari to shrink away. Cody and Crystal offered themselves as someone to talk to. Ken and Willis tried to get her to tell them about what happened to her while she was at the Dark Ocean the first time, but she wouldn't budge. Davis made everything worse by constantly pestering her and TK could tell that it was getting on her nerves.

_Why doesn't she trust me with what's going on? She's trusted me before, I don't understand it. _TK let out a sigh as his eyes drifted to the side so he was peering at Kari. She had her head tilted over her paper so her hair was blocking her face. _We've been through so much together; she should know that she can tell me anything._

TK was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the bell ring signaling his next class. He wasn't aware of the class change until Kari placed a hand on his shoulder. He knew it was her because his heart instantly sped up, and that was the first reaction he got whenever she touched him or looked in his direction.

"We have History now, TK," Kari reminded him as he blinked and looked up at him.

"History, right," he muttered as he stood and grabbed his books before sweeping his hat on top of it. Kari waited patiently by him before the two left the room.

"TK, what's on your mind?" She asked him after a couple seconds of silence.

"Hmmm?" TK asked as he turned to look at her.

"Something's been on your mind all morning. I can see the little gears in your head turning," she said with a chuckle.

"Well...uhh..." TK stuttered as he tried to piece a sentence together in his mind. "To tell you the truth, Kar', I was thinking about you."

"Oh?" Kari questioned as she stopped walking.

"Yeah. You're really distant today and it's starting to worry me. You won't even talk to Gatomon about it, she told me this morning. What's been on your mind?"

"It's nothing," Kari muttered as she tried to walk forward but TK gently grabbed her arm but grabbed it firmly enough to stop her from walking away.

"Don't lie to me," he said in a stern tone. "I've known you for years, Hikari, so I can tell when you're lying to me. I want to hear the truth."

Kari's eyes shifted as she glanced around the hallway that was starting to empty out. She knew that she didn't want to be late for class but she knew she wouldn't be able to trick TK into thinking that she was 'fine'.

"Ok, fine, come with me," she said as she grasped his wrist and started pulling him down the hall at a quick pace.

"You're going to skip class?" he asked in disbelief.

"It's just Study Hall," she replied as she kept pulling him down the hall and out the front doors. He winced and closed his eyes as the bright sunlight hit his face. She dragged him around the building and over to the bench, which he remembered was her favorite place to go when she needed to think. Kari practically threw him down onto the bench.

"Is that TK?" Patamon asked as he stuck his head out of a nearby tree. "And Kari?"

"Kari?" Gatomon repeated as she stuck her head out of the tree. "It looks serious," she noted. "Now maybe I can find out what's been running through her mind."

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked in confusion.

"She's been waking up drenched in sweat every night for the past couple of days and she hasn't told me why. She won't talk to me, she keeps everything bottled up inside. I'm worried about her."

"Ssssh," Patamon shushed her. "We can listen in and figure it out."

"Kari, you're starting to scare me. Now, what's been going on?" TK asked her.

Kari sighed and ran a gloved hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. TK saw fear in her ruby eyes and the only thing he wanted to do was make her feel better...make her feel safe. "I've been having these dreams, TK. Really scary dreams. Japan was destroyed. Everything was leveled, the school, the apartments, the shops, everything. Fires were burning the leveled buildings and fire fighters were rushing to put it out. Ambulances were on the scene and...and bodies after bodies were being pulled from the rubble of the fallen buildings." Kari let out a shaky breath as she blinked to keep tears from falling out of the corners of her eyes. "The worst part...was that we caused all of it. Because we _failed. _Each dream, a Digimon is responsible for the destruction because they were bigger, stronger, and we couldn't beat them. Not like last time. In one dream it would be Piedmon. In another it would be MaloMyotismon. Japan's fate would rest on our shoulders and we'd...fail. Everyone died, our friends, our families. You and I would be the only ones left...each time..."

Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she locked eyes with TK who sat in stunned silence. She didn't take her eyes off of him as she took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. "There's something else I haven't told you, any of you," she started. "You know when you guys needed me to get to the Dark Ocean?" TK nodded. "Before I could take us there, I saw...a vision. It was after everything was destroyed. You and I...I think we were angels. We had wings on our backs and we were looking at the destruction. You...you wanted us to move on with our lives but I wouldn't accept it. It's not a coincidence that I saw this and that I dreamed about this. I think...I think this will happen in the future. Takeru...I'm scared."

TK was finally able to move from his current state of shock. _She had all of that on her mind? That big burden? It's no wonder she finally cracked, I would have too._ He stood and held out his arms, immediately pulling her close to him in a hug. He held her tight as he felt her body shaking with quiet sobs. He gently stroked her hair as he held her tight, wanting to take the pain and fear away from her. "It'll be ok, Hikari," he whispered into her ear. "We'll make sure this doesn't happen."

"But I've seen it happen so many times," Kari protested as she pulled away to look at him. "I don't think-"

"Hika'," TK said as he stopped her from speaking by placing a finger to her lips. "We'll make sure this doesn't happen," he repeated with his charming smile.

"Why do you put up with me, TK?" She asked as she slowly shook her head. "I'm nothing but a ball of emotions, ready to snap. Sometimes I think I'm crazy."

"I put up with you because we've been through a lot together and I'm not going to give up on you that easily," he responded in an offended tone. Kari winced at his tone and his expression softened. "Sorry. I just hate it when you put yourself down like that. You don't know how important you are to the group." _And to me. C'mon TK, why can't you just tell her how you feel? _"Did you tell anyone else about these dreams?"

"Just you."

"We should let everyone else know as soon as possible."

"I don't think it will make a difference," Kari sighed. TK gave her a questioning look. "Even if we tell them what I saw or dreamed about, I have this _really_ bad feeling that the Digimon of our past are going to come back anyway. And my feelings are usually right."

"At least we'll be ready ahead of time, right?"

"Right." Kari sighed.

"I'll be with you whenever you want to tell the others, ok?" TK placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to go this alone."

"TK, you've done so much for me all ready," Kari sighed. "I need to tell you something."

"What? There's something else?" He asked in alarm.

"Don't worry," Kari said quickly to calm him down. "It's not about that. It's just...well...how do you feel about me?"

TK gaped at her. _C'mon TK, this is your chance to tell her how you feel. She's asked you how you felt about her, so say it._ "Well, Kari. We've been with each other for a while now and we've been through a lot together which put a lot of things into perspective for me." _Stop beating around the bush, Takaishi! _"Kari...I-"

"_Here_ you two are!" Davis shouted as he rushed over to the two. His loud voice caused them to jump out of fright. His brown eyes shifted back and forth as he looked at them in suspicion. "What're you two doing out here anyway? Shouldn't you be in class, T.B.?"

"It's TK. T...K! It's just two letters! It's not that hard," TK said as he threw his hands up in frustration.

"What is it, Davis?" Kari asked, noticing the nervous look on his face.

"There's something you need to see," he replied before running off. Kari gave TK a worried look before running after Davis. TK let out a growl of frustration before following the two.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

TK walked at a slower pace behind Davis and Kari, kicking himself mentally as he held onto Patamon.

"I was close this time, Pata'," TK sighed. "Why is it so hard for me to tell her how I feel? I feel like...such a coward."

"You're not a coward, TK," Patamon told him. "You've stood up to Devimon. If you were a coward...you would've left me there."

"I couldn't leave you there, Pata'," TK muttered as he squeezed his friend slightly. Patamon smiled and snuggled into TK's arms. The trio finally made it into the computer room and saw everyone there. Izzy was sitting in the chair staring transfixed at the computer screen. "What's going on?" TK asked, breaking the silence. Yolei looked like she had been punched in the stomach while Cody had a look of pure anger on his face. Willis was in disbelief while Crystal's face was void of any emotion. She just held onto Icemon as if he were going to disappear in any second.

"What's going on?" Kari asked, almost afraid to know what the answer would be. In the pit of her stomach, she knew something was wrong. She'd been feeling it all day but she didn't want to worry anyone with it. Izzy didn't respond, he merely pointed at the screen, never tearing his eyes away from it.

Kari slowly took the steps she needed to be able to see the computer screen. She swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. Her anxiety was getting the better of her but she couldn't control it. Many possibilities ran through her head, each worse than the one before it. Finally, she made stood by Yolei's side and looked at the screen.

_'No. Please no!'_ Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw the destruction on the screen. It was no surprise to her that it was the DigitalWorld, what did shock her was the shape it was in. The landscape was damaged, as if multiple explosions had gone off at once. The once beautiful landscape was now charred and burnt, which made it barley recognizable. But many adventures in that world made it easy for Kari to recognize it.

"What happened?" TK finally uttered, holding onto Patamon who stared at the screen in dismay.

"The Dark Masters," Izzy whispered.

"What!" TK and Kari gasped at the same time. Davis glanced back and forth at the two as their faces paled.

"You can't be serious," TK muttered in a begging tone. "You can't be, Izzy. We defeated them. They can't be back. There's just no way."

"The DigitalWorld is an unpredictable place," Gatomon spoke up from her position on the shelf. She was sitting, looking at them all calmly. "Anything can happen. It doesn't surprise me that they're back, really. I had a feeling deep down in my paws that they would come back one day. They _are_ Digimon after all, and we don't die."

"What's so bad about these 'Dark Masters'?" Davis asked as he put finger quotes around the phrase. "They don't sound so tough to me. Veemon, Ken, Wormmon, and I can probably handle it on our own."

"Davis, I'm getting tired of your ignorance," Kari spoke up, shocking them all. She was glaring at him and he looked back at her, a crestfallen look was on his face. It was obvious that he had said that to try and sound brave in front of her, but he was actually scared. He's heard stories of the Dark Masters from Tai and he knew that they were tough Digimon. He couldn't control what came out of his mouth sometimes but he didn't think it would actually get Kari to be mad at him. Usually she took it in stride, as if it were a routine she had to go through. "Stop joking about something that's important to our lives and the world! We're the ones who are responsible for our lives and everyone else's!"

An awkward silence fell over the room which was broken by Cody asking, "Izzy, how many Dark Masters are there?"

"Four. MetalSeadramon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon, and Peidmon," he replied, finally taking his eyes away from the computer screen to look at him.

"I'm assuming they're all in different areas," Cody continued. Izzy nodded. "I would say that we stay as one group and fight together, but in this case I think it would be a good idea to split up. We have a better chance of saving the world if we get them knocked out at one time. As long as we have a Digimon that can digivolve into mega in each group, we should be fine."

"Wait, what about our parents?" Crystal spoke up. "If we're going to do this there's a good chance that we'd have to stay in the DigitalWorld for days. I don't know about you, but my Dad will be suspicious when I don't return home after two days."

"We'll explain it to them this time," TK declared. "They know about Digimon by now, they know that we're involved in all of this. They should understand."

"So it's settled? We don't come back until we've defeated the Dark Masters again?" Kari asked.

"It's settled," Izzy replied, pushing his chair back so he could stand. He then glanced at Kari and saw the troubled look that was on her face. "Relax, Kari. We know what we're going against this time so we have the upper hand this time."

"That may be so but they also know what we're made of so we're at an even level," Kari replied. Izzy remained silent as he thought it over. "We need to meet somewhere to plan this out so there aren't any holes in our plans. _All_ of us."

"What about Mimi? She's in New York right now. We'd be wasting time if we waited for her to get here," Willis finally spoke up. He held Terriermon and Lopmon in his arms. His grip slowly started to tighten ever since Kari, Davis, and TK came into the room and now they were trying to fight their way out of his arms to get some oxygen.

"We'll just have to meet her in the Digital World," Izzy said as he turned off the computer, his grim reflection stared back at him. "Right now don't let on to anyone else that something big is going on. The faster we get through the day the faster we can save the Digital World." He let out a breath, "We have to keep our guard up at all times. Don't forget, Digimon can find their way into our world."

"No pressure," Crystal muttered sarcastically, only to glare at Willis when he elbowed her in the ribs.

"I need you four to stay," Izzy added as he pointed at TK, Kari, Willis, and Crystal. "I have something important to tell you four."

Tai slowly replaced his phone on its base, staring at the wall in shock from the news he had just received from Izzy. Fear gripped his heart as his breathing started to turn shallow. _'The Dark Masters are back? This can't be possible!' _Tai turned around to face Matt, who was sitting on his bed playing his guitar. Matt looked up when he felt Tai's eyes on him.

"What?" Matt asked when Tai didn't say anything. "Who was that on the phone?"

"That was Izzy," Tai replied. "We have a situation." Matt stayed silent as he raised his eyebrows, waiting for Tai to give him the news. "You know what we've been wishing wouldn't happen? It happened."

"Tai, you're not making any sense," Matt sighed.

"The Dark Masters are back," Tai replied. Matt's eyes widened as his jaw dropped. He lost his grip on his guitar and it fell to the ground with a loud bang, causing them both to jump at the sudden noise.

"What're we going to do?" Matt asked, finally finding his voice.

"We're going to have to go into the DigitalWorld," Tai repeated Izzy's message. "We can't come back until they're defeated."

"But...what about Midterms? If we leave now, we're going to mess up our grades."

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure you don't need a college education to be able to play a guitar for a band," Tai said as he rushed over to his closet and started pulling clothes off of the hangers to shove them into a bag.

"Good point," Matt agreed, jumping off of his bed and going over to where Tai was frantically shoving clothes into a bag. "But to be sure, I'm going to get my dad to explain to the school that we've...been accepted in a foreign exchange program that was set up months ago. There's no way they won't let us go. They'll think this will look good on our transcripts or something." Matt ducked when a basketball went flying at his head. "Watch it, man!"

"Sorry," Tai mumbled his apology. "It just occurred to me what this means. We've had to save our world and the DigitalWorld before. This time...it feels really different. Like we're going to war."

"I know what you mean," Matt admitted; his statement instantly grabbed Tai's attention. "You know that the Dark Masters really want to destroy us now. They'd have stronger Digimon on their side. This is like war, only we're the ones fighting and if we make the smallest mistake, it will affect both worlds."

Tai chuckled a little. "We really have a lot on our shoulders this time."

"I can jump higher than you!" DemiVeemon challenged Upamon, jumping up and down on the bed.

"I can jump higher than both of you!" Poromon declared as he, too, jumped onto the bed and started bouncing to see if he could jump higher than the other two Digimon.

"C'mon Minomon. I bet you can jump higher than those two," DemiVeemon said as he pointed at Poromon and Upamon who were having trouble getting as high as the blue Digimon was jumping.

"Ok...for a little bit," Minomon sighed, floating over to the bed.

"It's nice to know they can still have fun despite knowing what's about to unfold," Yolei commented as she spun in Crystal's computer chair. They had all gathered at her house because of the fact that she had a larger area for them to gather in and that her father knew about Digimon so they didn't have to worry about being found out by their parents. She sighed. "I still can't believe this is happening. If those Digimon can come back like that...does that mean we have to fight BlackWarGreymon again? Do we have to fight Arukenimon and Mummymon again?"

"What if Myotismon comes back? Or Devimon?" Joe questioned. He managed to get out of Medical School because he said that a family member was sick and he needed to be with him. Joe hated having to lie, but he knew that the team really needed them so he rushed there as fast as he could.

"Devimon," TK whispered, looking down at Patamon who was sitting in his arms. Patamon looked back up at TK and shared a smile with him, a secret smile. Kari rested a hand on his shoulder and Davis glared at them, kicking the hackie-sack he was messing with harder.

"I don't think we're going to have to worry about them," Izzy replied as he looked over his laptop to see everyone looking at him. "From what I can tell, only the Dark Masters have returned. No other Digimon from our past is at large so we only have to worry about them."

"What about Diaboromon?" Willis spoke up.

"That's the thing, it's like he's disappeared from the DigitalWorld altogether. No Digimon has seen from him or heard from him, but we can't rule out that he's back. We'll just have to keep an eye out for him, there's no sense in going looking for him now that we know what he can do." He closed his computer. "So, the plan is that we go into the DigitalWorld, destroy the Dark Masters as fast as we can, and then deal with whatever Diaboromon throws at us."

"Don't you think we're leaving our world vulnerable," Sora asked. "Diaboromon was able to get through the internet before, what makes you think he can't do it again?"

"He's weaker," Willis told her. "When he attacked us before...there was something different about his attack. Sure, he was able to change our Digimon with one attack...but it felt like that was the worst he could do. He isn't as strong as he was before, he could have easily gone into the internet if he wanted to, but I don't think he can."

A tense silence filled the room, the only sound came from the happy Digimon that were bouncing on the bed. Gatomon was sitting on top of Crystal's computer licking her fur and Terriermon, Lopmon, and Icemon were sitting on top of Crystal's fan, occasionally spinning it around by flapping their ears and/or wings.

The ringing phone caused all of them to jump. Crystal heard her father answer it in another room but the noise broke the tension when Tai announced, "Kari, if you want a ride home we have to leave now. Mom's going to start worrying."

"Ok." Kari held out her arms to Gatomon, who gracefully jumped into them. They bade goodbye to the others and left the room. After asking a couple of questions to be prepared to leave the next morning, slowly everyone else trickled out of the room until Izzy, Willis, Crystal, and TK were left. Matt offered to go with him back to their mother's place but TK told him to go on ahead.

TK let out a shaky breath as he tried to piece together a question to ask Izzy. Ever since the genius told him about the four other DigiEggs that were separated somewhere in the DigitalWorld his mind has been on overdrive. He was afraid of what would happen once they set foot back in the DigitalWorld. He didn't want to split up again, but he knew deep down that it might actually be a good way to eliminate the Dark Masters faster. He was also afraid of what new DigiEgg would be his. It wouldn't feel right if he got the DigiEgg of Darkness, but what if it actually was his? Would the Darkness part of the power get to Patamon and turn on him? He was afraid to know of the answer, but he would rather get the DigiEgg of Darkness than any of his friends.

"Izzy...about this DigiEgg thing," TK finally spoke up. Izzy raised an eyebrow as TK continued, "What if the DigiEgg of Darkness has a negative affect? The DigiEggs are like crests, right? That means that one of us has to have Darkness in us. What the Darkness from it...changes one of us?"

Izzy's face remained void of emotion for a few minutes before he finally spoke. "You're worried about Kari." It was more of a statement than a question, either way TK nodded. "The prophecy did say something about darkness can't live without light and only one can control everything..." he rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm pretty sure she won't get the DigiEgg of Darkness, but if it does happen...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

TK nodded, holding out his arm so Patamon could land on it and crawl onto his shoulder. "Thank you Izzy. When are we leaving?"

"Day after tomorrow at the latest," Izzy replied. "I want to give us more time to set things straight before we leave."

"Ok. See you tomorrow." TK slipped out of the room; an air of peace filled the once tense atmosphere.

"So this is it." Izzy and Willis turned to look at Crystal who was staring off into space, her knees pulled to her chest. "We're going to war, aren't we?"

"It was inevitable," Izzy replied. "It was only a matter of time before a group of Digimon stood up to us in a big way. Despite being split up we're going to have to stick together now more than ever if we want to succeed." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "I have to go now."

"I'll walk you to the door." Willis stood, staring out the window as the two left her bedroom. Crystal could feel her father's eyes on her back as they walked towards the front door. "Are you sure we can do this?" Crystal asked, lowering her voice so her father couldn't hear her. Not that she didn't want him to hear what she was saying, but so she could mask the fear that was laced in her voice.

"We have to, we don't really have a choice," Izzy pointed out as he lifted his laptop bag over his head so the strap rested across his chest. "Are you really worried?"

"Willis and I...we've never had to go through the things you guys had to. We don't have the same experience," she admitted. "I'm more worried about him. He hasn't been the same since the virus attacked Kokomon. I'm afraid that this will send him over the edge or something."

"We can do this. We defeated the Dark Masters once; we can surely do it again. With more of us DigiDestined fighting this time, there's no way we can lose," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. "Just remember, half of the time we don't know what we're doing." They both chuckled. Izzy then looked down at his hand and quickly pulled it away as a blush rose to his cheeks. "Um...I-I'll see you later then."

"See ya." Crystal closed the door behind him and turned to see her father looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?" She questioned.

"That boy...something's not right," Christian replied as he squinted at her.

"You said the same thing when you first met Willis, and look where that lead you? You ended up looking stupid," she pointed out.

"Do you want me to do anything while you're gone?" He asked as he pulled her into a hug.

"Tell Mom that I love her, that's all," she replied. He nodded and kissed her forehead before letting her go. She went back into her room to see Willis still staring out the window.

"Willis, relax," she told him, poking him in the side and causing him to flinch.

"Easy for you to say. You didn't make a life-threatening mistake," he muttered, rubbing Lopmon's head, remembering to avoid his horns.

"Apparently you forgot what happened when we were seven." Willis turned to look at her as a smile tugged at his mouth. "Remember? We were playing in the woods, hide and seek to be exact. I fell down the side of a ravine but was holding onto a branch. Then you found me with Gummymon, Kokomon, and Frostmon. You tried to help me but you fell too and I grabbed you to keep you from falling the rest of the way. Frostmon eventually got us out by digivolving to Icemon for the first time. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," he replied. "We were so stupid when we were younger."

"You relapse sometimes, but that's how I know you're back to your normal self. Right now, your normal self is hiding behind your past mistakes. You gotta get over it and move on, especially now. I'll be here with you, like always."

"I'm never going to get rid of you, am I?" He questioned.

"Not even if you tried."

Willis placed Lopmon on the ground before stepping forward and pulling Crystal to him in a hug, which shocked her and caused her to blush. She wasn't used to him expressing affection like that, towards her at least. She was used to him going on and on for hours about a cute girl he met, having to watch them hold hands or hug or kiss, but he's never shown that affection towards her, and it made her feel weird, even if he was her best friend.

* * *

**Sorry it took me soooo long to update! This chapter's longer for you guys. From everything that was discussed I wanted to end it in a light-hearted way. I hope you liked the fluff. Please read and review.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_"Kari, can we talk?" TK asked her. The glow from the campfire in front of her made her eyes seem brighter than normal, which made TK like them even more. She turned away from the fire and looked up at him, smiling brightly despite what they were getting themselves into._

_"Of course, TK. What about?" Kari asked, watching him sit down next to her. She brushed her hair out of her face and waited patiently for him to speak. She stared at his profile as he bit his lip and let out a sigh. "TK, what is it?"_

_"Hikari...what do you think about us?" TK finally let out and forced himself to look Kari in the eye. He desperately wanted to look away so he wouldn't have to see her facial expression which could easily give away how she was feeling, but he had to know._

_Her eyebrows rose. "I think we're really good friends, best friends even. I'm glad that we were able to meet each other, I can't think of you not being in my life."_

_"Do you ever...see us...being more than friends?" TK asked slowly, trying to keep his voice strong so she wouldn't know that he was nervous about asking the question._

_Kari's eyes widened a little before she turned away from him. TK sighed and slumped forward slightly, drawing random designs in the dirt. _Great, I blew my only chance with her. Now she probably hates me.

_"TK." Kari said his name so softly that he almost didn't hear her. He was aware of her eyes on him though, and that alone forced him to turn to look at her. "I really-"_

_Kari's sentence was cut off by the sound of crashing trees. TK's head shot up as he focused on the tree line ahead of them. Kari's breath came out shaky and TK swore his heart was getting ready to fly out of his chest as the sounds got louder and louder..._

TK's eyes snapped open as he let out a gasp. He let out the air and quickly took another breath as his eyes darted around the room. He saw his backpack, his computer, and his posters. He was still in his room. It was just a dream. A nightmare, really.

TK rolled over and instantly relaxed when he saw Patamon sleeping peacefully. TK gently rubbed Patamon's head before he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stepped onto the floor. He crossed the room, making sure to stay quiet so he wouldn't wake his friend up. They stayed up late the night before packing for the big day, just in case they had to leave sooner than they expected.

The fact that they were setting out for the Digital World to fight in an actual war terrified TK, which was what fueled his nightmares, but he knew that it was something he had to do. It came with responsibility of being a DigiDestined, doing something that he may not want to do in the first place. He was surprised at how eager Tai and Matt seemed to be to fight in the war. He still couldn't understand how they could jump right into something so life threatening without worrying about the consequences of their actions.

The fact that Diaboromon was back scared him, but what made him forget about that fear and filled him with rage was the fact that Devimon was back, only because of Diaboromon's power. TK clenched his hands into fists and bit his lip, trying to keep himself from yelling, releasing his suppressed anger. Everyone saw him as the peace-loving, calm one. They didn't have to go through losing their best friend like he did, and it was something that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

"TK, what're you doing up so early?" Nancy asked so suddenly it caused him to jump. He hadn't realized that he had walked out into the living room. She looked down at her son and affectionately ran a hand through his hair.

"I had a bad dream. I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to clean my room," he lied as he forced a smile to form onto his face. "I got some homework done too, so I don't have much to do tonight."

Nancy studied her son's face. "There's something you're not telling me," she stated, instead of questioned him.

"You're right," he agreed. "It's no wonder I always got caught when I was younger." He chuckled a little. "Mom, you remember that world I was telling you about? The one that Patamon is from?"

"The Digimon World?" Nancy questioned. TK nodded. "What about it?" A knot suddenly formed in her stomach. She had a guess about what he was going to say but she didn't want to be right.

"We have to go back there for a while," TK replied, not looking into her eyes. "All of us. We're going to fight to protect the world. We don't know when we're going to be back, though."

Nancy's breath got caught in her throat. _Relax. You knew something like this would inevitably happen sooner or later. Support his decision; don't make him think that he shouldn't do what he has to do._ She forced a smile and playfully messed up his hair. "I'll be waiting for you when you get back. I had to do it before, I can do it again."

"Thanks for being so understanding, Mom." TK stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist in a tight hug. She chuckled and hugged him back, holding him and gently rocking him. He glanced at the clock. "I have to get ready for school."

Nancy let go of TK to allow him to go to his room. He quietly closed the door and went over to Patamon who had just woken up. "Hey buddy. How'd you sleep?" TK asked, rubbing Patamon's head.

"Really well. Is it time for school all ready?" Patamon asked, surging into the air to stretch his wings.

"Yeah. Can you put my books in my backpack for me?" He asked before going over to the closet.

"Sure."

TK changed his clothes and was brushing his hair when he heard a car horn honking right underneath his bedroom window. He ignored it because he was used to hearing car horns honking at random times during the day because his window was facing the busy street below.

"TK, Matt's here," Nancy said as she stepped into the room. TK turned to face her with a confused expression on his face. "He's said he's going to drive you to school today."

"But...I always walk with Kari."

"Matt said it was important."

"Ok. Tell him I'll be down in two minutes. I just have t call Kari and tell her I can't walk with her."

Nancy closed the door to let him call her. He let out a breath and pulled out his cell phone, his palms were suddenly sweaty. _Gosh, I'm just calling her, not asking her on a date. Get a grip, TK!_ "Hey Kari. How are you this morning?" He greeted her once she picked up her cell phone.

"I'm doing well. How are you, TK?"

"I'm good. Listen, I can't walk with you to school today. Matt's going to drive me."

"Matt? Yamato Ishida, that Matt?"

"The same one. I was shocked when I first found out that he's going to drive me too. So, I'll just meet you in homeroom. Ok?"

"Ok. See you then."

TK hung and up grabbed his backpack from Patamon's jaws, chuckling when he saw the little Digimon struggling to keep them both into the air. "Thanks, Pata'."

He opened his backpack and waited for Patamon to get into the top before putting it onto his back and leaving the room. He called "goodbye" to his mother as he raced out of his apartment. He took the elevator down to the lobby and raced over to Matt's red convertible that was waiting out front.

"It's about time, little brother," Matt commented as TK slipped into the passenger seat. He placed his backpack in the back and Patamon popped out, only to curl up in the backseat. "Do you always take this long in the morning?"

"Why're you driving me to school?" TK demanded.

"We're not going to school," Matt responded. "Izzy sent everyone a message. We can't wait; we have to go to the Digital World now. I hope you have your stuff with you."

"I think I do." TK turned in his seat. "Patamon?"

"I saw the message last night. I didn't want to alarm you or your mother, so I switched your bags this morning. You have everything you need with you," the orange Digimon replied.

"Where are we going?" TK asked Matt.

"The old campsite...where it all began."

* * *

"Will you knock it off?" Yolei shouted as she rounded on Davis. He raised an eyebrow as he continued to bounce the soccer ball on his head. Ken sat by him, keeping count for him as Davis tried to reach his record of headers. "That noise is giving me a headache!"

"So don't listen to it!" Davis shot back with an eye roll. "I'm not even doing anything to you."

"Calm down, Yolei," Cody called from his position underneath the awning. He held Upamon in his arms. "Davis isn't doing anything; it's just your anxiety talking. Come over here out of the sun and calm down a little bit."

"Maybe you're right, Cody," Yolei agreed as she walked over to him.

"Who are we waiting for?" Crystal asked after a few minutes of silence. The only sound was the soccer ball hitting Davis's head.

"Matt, TK, Kari, and Tai," Willis replied, scratching Lopmon's and Terriermon's ears absentmindedly. The twin Digimon nuzzled against Willis's chest like two little kids. "They said they'd be a little late. Just relax; this is probably the only time you will be able to in a while." Crystal knew he was speaking the truth but she didn't want to feed his ego. She just continued to run her hand on Icemon's fur as he slept peacefully on her lap. "I'm glad you're here," he told her without looking at her. "I'm glad you decided to stick by me instead of running off when you had the chance."

Before Crystal could respond the sound of screeching tires. Everyone turned their heads to see the Kamiyas get out of Tai's car and TK and Matt get out of Matt's car. Once they reached the group Sora hugged Matt tight. Tai changed his gaze to scan the group. "Joe, you made it!" He said with a grin once he spotted his blue haired friend.

"I got out of Medical School. I said it was a family emergency. Technically, this is an emergency," he said with a smile and a little shrug.

"So, everyone's here?"

"Mimi's not," Yolei spoke up.

"She's going to meet us there," Izzy said as he walked out of the small shelter, his laptop was in his hand. "If everyone's present and accounted for..." he scanned the group. "Prodigious. We can get underway." He placed his computer on a nearby bench and called up the DigiPort. Everyone crowded around the laptop, a tense feeling fell over the group. "There's no turning back now," he muttered.

"Everyone ready?" Davis asked.

"Ready," they replied.

Davis let out a shaky breath before holding up his D3. "DigiPort Open!"


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Davish…Davish, wake up!"

Davis groaned when he felt something poke him. He forced his eyes open but closed them when the sun shined brightly on his face. He gathered up his strength and pushed himself off of the ground into a kneeling position. He looked up to see Veemon standing in front of him.

"We made it, Davish," Veemon informed him.

"We did?" He asked groggily. "Great." He looked around. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're over there," Veemon said as he pointed towards a cave that was to Davis' right. Davis pushed himself onto his feet and moved towards the cave where he could hear the voices of his friends drifting to his ears. Once he stepped foot into the cave their heads turned in his direction.

"Ah, Davis, you're awake," Sora commented.

"How come you left me out there?" Davis asked, slightly annoyed.

"We were exploring, to make sure there was nothing in here. Anyways, we've been lying there for about an hour and nothing happened."

"I was getting ready to get you, Davis," Kari spoke up. "I was making a bed for you if you were still sleeping. That's why it took some time."

"Oh…thank you, Kari," he said with a bright smile. She smiled back but it faded slightly when Tai and Matt joined their group with Yolei and Cody by their side along with their respective Digimon. "What's up?"

"This cave stretches on," Matt explained. "Who knows where it could lead to? So far we haven't run into any other Digimon so it's an ideal place to stay. It has great protection and if something comes our way we can use one of the many tunnels to escape."

"That's great." Davis paused and looked around. "Where's everybody else?" He quickly glanced around and noticed that half of the group was there.

"We couldn't find them," Cody responded. "They must've landed somewhere else. We went looking for them for a bit but we gave up after spending ten minutes looking around. We can use our Digivices to find them though."

"Do you know how large the DigitalWorld is?" Tai asked him. "It's bigger than you know. We haven't even covered the entire thing when we first came. If they're not here, they could be anywhere and it could take days to find them. The best thing we can do is try and defeat whoever comes our way. That way, when we get back together, we have some enemies out of our way."

"But what if we need their help? Or they need our help? We have to look for them!"

"Davis, did you not hear a word I just said?" Tai demanded. "The DigitalWorld is too big to go look for them! Even if we sent them messages asking where they are there's like a one in a billion chance that they could be near us."

"But we can _try_!"

"Davis, Tai has a point," Cody told him.

"Yeah, I don't know about you but I'm not up for walking many miles to find our friends if they try and find us and we pass them along the way without knowing," Armadillomon agreed.

Davis sighed before sitting down where he was. He drew random pictures in the dirt as Veemon sat down next to him. He knew it was right for them all to be together, but he also knew that they were right in their own way.

"C'mon Veemon," he muttered, standing up so he could leave.

"Davis, where are you going?" Sora called after him. "We should stick together."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," he called bitterly over his shoulder. Veemon rushed to catch up to Davis. Once he was outside of the cave he squeezed his hands into fists and pounded the ground.

"Davis."

"I'm tired of it, Veemon!" Davis growled between hitting the ground with his fist. "I'm tired of always being treated like I'm stupid or I don't know what I'm talking about!" He stopped pounding the ground and flexed his fingers, wincing at the pain that spread through them. "I _know_ we have to go and look for them. I just know it."

"Davis, you have to think of it in the grand scheme of things." Davis whipped his head around to see Kari and Gatomon. "Think of it this way, if you were in South America, in Argentina for example, and the rest of us were in Venezuela, you'd come looking for us, right?" Davis nodded. "The thing is, if you had to walk the entire time without a map, without a guide, just you alone, you wouldn't know where to go. And what if you passed us on the way there and we didn't know it? You'd keep going. If you saw we weren't there, we'd continue to go around in circles. That's the same as this situation. We may have communication with each other, but we don't have a map of the DigitalWorld and our Digimon haven't seen all of it themselves."

"When you say it…it makes sense," Davis sighed, sitting down on the ground. He stared out at the sight in front of him, a large lake with crystal clear blue water. The water lapped up onto the shore by his feet, but he didn't bother moving.

"Tai has had a lot of experience with this stuff, you should trust him," Kari said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off as if he had gotten burnt by her hand.

"I'm worried," Davis muttered.

"I know you are Davis, and we–"

"No, I'm worried about you…Hikari."

Kari's breath caught in her throat. That was the first time Davis has ever called her by her full name, and she had to admit it had a certain ring to it when it rolled off of his tongue. She stared at his profile, willing for him to continue himself. He kept his dark eyes on the water, not looking at her. He was aware of Gatomon and Veemon leaving the two to talk in peace. Veemon was probably just following Gatomon around to find out if he had any chance with her. But it would be like his chance with Kari: zero to none.

"Why are you worried about me?" Kari finally asked him.

"Because you're special Kari, and I'm not just saying that," Davis responded. "There's something about you that makes you the target. I don't even fully understand it, but you're not afraid of what's going to happen at all. You just take it all in stride." A faint smile formed on his face. "It wouldn't surprise me if TK was going out of his mind with worry."

"TK? Wha…?" Kari's voice trailed off.

"I see the way he looks at you, Kari." Davis finally turned to look at her; a sad look was in his eyes that rivaled with acceptance. "To him, you're…an angle. You don't even have to see the look on his face for you to know it. You can tell by the way he talks to you, is always there for you, and wants to make everything all right for you. I'm worried that you won't realize this until the last possible moment, and that won't do you any good." He sighed. "I do love you Kari, but not as much as TK does."

"What's he doing?" Gatomon whispered from the top of the cave where she and Veemon were crouched down.

"He's finally letting her go," Veemon responded.

"What?"

"Mhm. He decided a long time ago. He's going to give Kari and TK their space." Veemon paused. "He does love her, that's why he's letting her go." Gatomon stared at the scene in shock. She has never heard Davis do anything so…so…so _mature_. It was so unlike him that it made Gatomon uncomfortable to watch, when she usually liked watching human interaction.

"Davis...I don't know what to say," Kari muttered as she looked down at the ground.

"You don't have to say anything, Kari," Davis said as he ran a hand thought his dark hair. "As long as you still consider me your friend I'll be fine."

"Davis–"

She was cut off by a rumbling sound. She and Davis jumped to their feet as they looked around. A few ways down dirt gave way before a large Digimon came to the surface.

"What's that?" Davis asked.

"It's Scorpiomon!" Kari gasped. Something clicked in her mind. "Oh no."

"What?" Davis asked.

"If Scorpiomon is here…than there's a good chance that MetalSeadramon is here too!"

* * *

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Terriermon asked. He was trailing behind the group, his ears dragging behind him.

"Until we find a safe place to rest," Ken responded.

"At least we have some shade, right?" Lopmon asked his brother with a small smile. Terriermon nodded in agreement, thankful that they had landed in the jungle where the trees gave them a lot of shade from the hot stun.

"Mimi has more shade," Terriermon grumbled.

"That's because this was the only hat that went with my outfit," Mimi said as she smiled down at her clothes, lightly touching the brim of her bright pink that rested on her hair.

"Same ol' Mimi," Joe muttered to Izzy, whose eyes were glued on his laptop. Izzy nodded in agreement. He managed to connect the map on his D-Terminal to transfer onto his computer, that way he had a wider range displayed on it.

"Speaking of, Izzy, have you ever told Mimi that you liked her?" Gomamon spoke up as he climbed onto Joe's shoulder.

Izzy's eyes widened and, in shock, almost dropped his computer. Tentomon flew around Izzy, making sure he had a firm hold on his computer. "I don't like Mimi," Izzy said, looking at Joe before looking over his shoulder where Mimi was talking to Crystal about shoes. Crystal had a bored look on her face. Behind them Willis was walking with Ken and TK and they were having a quiet conversation, their Digimon in their arms. "I mean, I do like her, but I'm not infatuated with her." He frowned. "Why the sudden interest in my life?"

"Because I want to see you happy," Joe responded.

"I am happy."

"I mean happy in the only way a girl can make you happy. There has to be someone that you like."

Izzy shifted his gaze as a light blush formed on his cheeks. "There's a place over here where we can rest," he called out, changing the subject. He closed his laptop and placed it in the bag that was rhythmically tapping against his side with every step that he took.

"How much further, Izzy? I'm starting to sweat," Mimi called, taking off her hat to fan her forehead.

"Not that much further. It's right…" Izzy stepped off the path and pushed away two large bushes. "Here!" He exclaimed. Everyone rushed over to his side and peered at a house that was in the middle of the clearing.

"Uh, Izzy, can we trust it?" TK asked. "We've had some bad luck with houses in the DigitalWorld. I mean..." he held up his fingers to list off places as he spoke. "Devimon's mansion, Puppetmon's house, the cruise ship, ShogunGekomon's palace, that house with Arukenimon. I've decided to stay away from Digi Houses from now on."

"My map would've said anything about a Digimon hiding in there, its fine," Izzy said with confidence as he walked towards it.

"Should we trust it?" Wormmon asked Ken.

"Izzy would never lie," Tentomon announced before flying after his partner. It seemed to convince them all because they followed Izzy across the emerald green lawn and into the house.

"Hmm, not one hint of dust or dirt in sight," Mimi commented. "Palmon, you know what this means?" She asked, her eyes wide in delight.

"We can take a nice warm bath?" Palmon guessed.

"Right! Let's go!" Mimi ran up the stairs, Palmon close behind her. The two giggled the entire way up the stairs.

"There are a lot of bedrooms upstairs," Patamon announced as he came flying back downstairs. "The sheets are clean too, as if they had been freshly washed." Terriermon jumped down from the railing of the landing over the foyer of the house. A challenging look gleamed in Patamon's eye as he flew after Terriermon, starting a game of tag along with Lopmon and Icemon.

"Joe, look at this. They have plenty of human medicine," Gomamon called, looking into a cabinet that he had opened.

"This is great. Now we don't have to worry about running out of supplies or anyone falling ill," he said excitedly as he looked over every jar, box, and container that lined the shelves.

"What's wrong?" Willis asked, noticing the look on Crystal's face.

"I find this too good to be true," Crystal responded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Medicine? Beds? Baths? No Digimon living in this place and it just so happens to be in the middle of a shady forest? There's something fishy about it."

"You worry too much," Willis said as he shook his head. "Relax. Izzy's right, if there were a Digimon near here, we would've known." He draped his arm around her shoulders and grinned at her. "Let's go take a walk if you're that worried."

She pushed his arm off of him and glared at him. "I'd rather not," she muttered before moving into the kitchen.

"For someone who claims to be your friends she's very…pugnacious," Izzy commented suddenly causing Willis to jump. "Are you two in a fight?"

"Nah, she's always been like that towards me," Willis replied, shaking his head and chuckling.

"May I inquire why?"

"Honestly, I never could figure that out for how long I've known her," he admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I grew up having her as my only friend so I embraced it. I like that about her, surprisingly—being outspoken, I mean.."

"But there has to be something in her past that lead to that behavior."

"Now that you mention it," Willis muttered, rubbing his chin. He paused, wondering if he should even saying something that was so private and so close to Crystal but he continued anyway. "She has been acting out more since her mother died."

Izzy's eyes widened. "Her mom died?"

"Yeah. When we were…about seven, I think. Yeah, that sounds right. All I know was that there was a car crash and she was killed instantly."

Izzy's breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes briefly, remembering back to when his parents—adoptive parents—told him about _his_ parents having died in a car crash. He let out a little breath and opened his eyes, regaining his composure but it didn't seem as if Willis noticed a difference in him. "If she acted out so much…why does she hang out with you? No offense."

"None taken." Willis shrugged. "We both needed a friend. After her mother's death and the Diaboromon incident we just…clicked, got closer. Because we were both alone and we needed someone. Our Digimon kind of filled that void but…in the end we just need someone that'll listen." Suddenly there was a loud crash. Willis didn't even have to look towards the stairs to know that it had something to do with Terriermon. He could hear Terriermon's panicked whispering and Lopmon's soothing voice. "Gosh, he can't stay out of trouble for _one_ minute?" He muttered under his breath before turning to run up the stairs.

"Uh, Willis, before you go. Could you help me with something on my computer later?" Izzy called.

"Sure," Willis shouted over his shoulder.

Izzy turned around to see Joe looking at him, deep in thought. "What?" Izzy asked, growing uncomfortable underneath Joe's gaze.

"Why the sudden interest in her life?" Joe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…I just…uh, well…you see," Izzy stuttered.

"Go talk to her," he said with a knowing grin. "Who knows, this may the only time we get a chance to relax for a while. You'd want to jump on the opportunity while it's in front of you."

Izzy made up his mind before going into the kitchen. Crystal was sitting at the island eating a fruity desert. Icemon had joined her and was eating it with her. The two looked up when Izzy entered.

"What?" Crystal asked, noticing the look on his face.

"Um, I just, uh…did you make that?" he asked lamely, nodding towards the desert as he mentally kicked himself.

Crystal gave him an odd look. "Yeah," she responded slowly. "Do you want some?"

"Don't mind if I do," Tentomon replied as he flew forward. Crystal pushed the desert towards him and laughed a little as he gobbled it up. "Sorry. I guess I was hungrier than I thought."

"It's no big deal. I can make another one," Crystal said as she moved to the refrigerator.

"Tentomon, I need you to help me," Icemon said suddenly. "I need you to help me…find Patamon. We're in the middle of a game of Hide and Seek.'

"No problem. We'll be able to find him faster than two shakes of a Digi tail," Tentomon replied before flying out of the room.

"So what'd you want to ask me?" Crystal asked suddenly, causing Izzy to blink.

"What makes you think I want to ask you something?" He questioned.

"I can tell by the way you're looking at me. It's either that or you have some sort of fascination with me, which would be kind of creepy," she responded, putting some fruit in a dish. "So what is it that you want to know? Probably my whole life story since I haven't really opened up to any of you."

"Uh, I just wanted you to know, that…uh," Izzy stammered, looking at his hands. "That if you ever, uh, want to talk to someone…I-I'm here." He squeezed his eyes shut. _'What's wrong with me? I'm an excellent public speaker and I can't even talk to her without stuttering.'_

"Thanks, but there's nothing I want to talk about," she said in a dismissive tone.

"Not even about your Mom?"

Crystal froze where she was standing. She glared at the fruit in the container, the spoon she was using to dump cream onto it stalled in mid air. "You talked to Willis?" It was more of a statement than a question. "He doesn't know what he's talking about," she muttered, continuing what she was doing. She only stopped when Izzy reached over the island and grabbed her wrist.

"You can't keep your emotions bottled up like that, you'd eventually combust."

"My Mom's dead, I'm over it. I've moved on."

"No you haven't," Izzy shook his head. He let her wrist go as he stood and moved to her side, looking down at her to try and read her facial expression. "If you have, you wouldn't keep blaming yourself and you wouldn't lash out at people." He sighed. "I know how you feel. My parents died in a car crash when I was young and then I was adopted. At least you still have your Dad, so you should be happy about that. I didn't know I was adopted until I couldn't sleep one night. Then I distanced myself from my parents and I didn't know I was hurting them. That's what you're doing; you're distancing yourself from people and hurting them. It may not be intentional, but you're doing it."

She gripped the edge of the island so hard that her knuckles were turning white and they were shaking. Her breath came out in short gasps as if she was keeping herself from crying. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–" He stopped when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, burying her face in his chest.

"It's not fair!" She sobbed.

"Uh…" Izzy's face flamed red as he hesitantly brought his arms up to hug her back. He held her for about a second when everything started shaking.

"What's happening?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 24**

Izzy's grip tightened on Crystal's shoulders. He could hear the screams of the others as the shaking got more violent. He managed to get to his feet and stumble the two over to the doorway. "Tentomon!" He called out, waiting to hear his friend's response. "Tentomon!"

"Icemon!"

All of a sudden the shaking stopped. Everything remained still and quiet, as if the earthquake never happened. Izzy looked down and blushed. Crystal's face was buried in his chest and she had a death grip on his shirt. He didn't know what to do. He's been close to a girl before. With all of the dangerous situations he's been put in in the Digital World it was inevitable. Be it the weather conditions forcing them together or his desire of protecting the girls he'd ended up in some pretty weird situations. Yet this situation was foreign to him, something that no computer or book would help him with.

"Are you two ok?" Joe asked as he rushed into the room.

Izzy's face turned redder. It almost matched his hair. He looked up at Joe before gently shoving Crystal away from him. He nodded and ran a hand through his hair as Crystal crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Yeah, we're fine Joe," Izzy replied, his voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know but TK and Ken went to check it out," Joe replied, keeping his eyes on Izzy.

"I'll go help them," Crystal said quickly before scurrying out of the room, calling for Icemon.

Joe watched her leave before turning to look at Izzy, raising his eyebrows. Izzy shuffled under Joe's gaze, messing with the hem of his shirt and rubbing his neck. Izzy finally looked up at Joe who was looking at Izzy with raised eyebrows, as if waiting for him to explain. "I'll go check on the others," Izzy mumbled, walking quickly to walk past Joe. Joe flung his arm out to stop him. "Why…why are you stopping me, Joe?"

"Is there something going on between you two?" Joey questioned. Izzy looked at Joe in pure confusion. "Between you and Crystal?"

"Of course not," Izzy said while shaking his head. "It's…there's nothing between us, I assure you. She's…just been helping me work out some theories that I have."

"Why haven't you mentioned any theories to the rest of us?" Joe questioned.

"Uh…" Izzy was stumped. Joe had a point, whenever Izzy had an idea or a theory he was quick to share it with the rest of them. There was only one occasion when Izzy had kept a theory to himself, and that ended up with them getting into a fight with a few Apemon. "I…I don't want you all to worry. I don't want us to jump into things before we've had time to work through every possible outcome, that's all. With our current mission at hand it's best that we look at every possible outcome before we even plan our next move."

* * *

"It felt like it came from over there," Ken said while pointing to the woods. TK glanced up at Ken, noticing the confident look on his face. TK then turned towards the horizon, raising his hand to shield the sun from his face. Patamon rested on his head, waiting for his friend to say something or make a decision on what to do next. That's what Patamon hated, the waiting, waiting to figure out if they were going to get attacked or if it was going to be a day of peace. Patamon chuckled to himself. The DigitalWorld and peace went together like Davis and studying, they never mixed.

"Think we should go check it out, Patamon?" TK asked, easily lifting his little friend off of his head and held him so their blue eyes locked.

"It could be one of those Dark Masters though," Crystal pointed out, clutching Icemon in her arms.

"The Dark Masters don't hesitate to find us," TK replied, shaking his head slightly. "It has to be something else."

"Nya, we'll never know until we look," Icemon said.

"I don't know," TK hesitated. "I don't feel right leaving the group. And we should be trying to find the others instead of trying to find out what caused that earthquake."

"It could be the others," Ken said slowly. "I highly doubt that it was, but if it _is_ them then they need to know where we are. And an earthquake like that, it wouldn't surprise me if it were Davis's doing."

"Well…" TK hesitated, looking back and forth between the woods and the house. "Ok, we can go look for a few minutes," he decided, motioning for the others to follow him. The group remained silent as they walked in the direction of the woods. The only sound was coming from the faint sounds of rushing water. _'Must be a river'_ TK thought, pushing a few branches away from his face as they walked deeper and deeper into the woods. _'Now we know where we can get some food, at least.'_

He let Ken and Crystal walk ahead of him. Patamon noticed the change in speed and looked down at his friend. "What's on your mind, TK?" Patamon questioned, leaning forward so the brim of his hat fell into his eyes.

"Nothing, Patamon," TK replied, pushing the Digimon back up so he could see.

"Don't lie to me," Patamon urged. "I can tell when something is bothering you. I know you have something on your mind. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help. I'm a great listener."

TK contemplated Patamon's words and sighed. "I'm worried," he finally replied.

"About what?"

"Not what," TK corrected him. "Whom. Kari, I'm worried about Kari."

"Oh," was all Patamon said.

TK lifted the plump Digimon off of his head and held him so they were face to face. "What do you mean by 'oh' Patamon?" He demanded. "Aren't you worried about Kari?"

"Of course I'm worried about Kari," Patamon said. "But Kari's not the only one I'm worried about," he continued. "To be honest it doesn't surprise me that you're worried about Kari. You're always worried about Kari and, frankly, it doesn't come as a shock to anyone else anymore."

TK stumbled a bit, keeping his eyes on his friend but quickly regained his balance and kept walking. "Now what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"TK, you're fifteen, you should be old enough to recognize when you care about someone," Patamon sighed. "Ever since Kari joined our team I've noticed that you've steadily grown used to protecting Kari and being there to shield her. As I said it's no surprise to anyone that you're worried about her. Heck, you even start to grow paranoid when she's a little late for school."

"So?" TK demanded. "Kari's my best friend, I worry,"

"Yes, but your worry even seems to eclipse Tai's worry and his worry is different," Patamon continued. "You worry because your feelings towards Kari is different than the others. The others worry about her because she's a friend but you, you want to be more than friends with her." TK opened his mouth. "Everyone can see it," he interrupted. "You're the only one who can't see it. You keep denying it and telling yourself that it's only out of friendship when it's not." TK lowered his head. He knew Patamon was right. He's been harboring feelings for Kari since he joined her class a few years prior and they were reunited. It was also the same time he realized how much he had actually missed her after his move. "Why don't you tell her?"

"Because she doesn't like me the same way," TK replied, using his usual answer.

"TK, do you think she'd take time out of her day to walk with you to and from school if she didn't feel the same way?"

"That's just her being nice. She's nice to everyone."

"TK, if she didn't like you she'd be treating you the same way she treats Davis. Well, he makes it painstakingly obvious about his crush, but still. She wouldn't put up with you if she didn't like you."

TK had to admit that Patamon had a point. TK was about to comment further when he heard Ken calling his name. He placed Patamon back on his head and ran through the forest, coming out at a clearing of tall grass where Ken and Crystal were standing, looking at something, their Digimon were by their sides. "What is it?" TK asked, looking between the two.

"Look." Ken pointed.

TK followed Ken's finger to the large rock that was jutting out of the middle of clearing. On the front was a symbol that TK hadn't seen in a long time and didn't believe was in front of him.

It was the symbol of the Crest of Hope.

"No way," TK whispered.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to update. To be honest I forgot about this story for a bit, but I got some plans with the story so I hope you readers stick around to find out what happenes. Also, I know my chapters are really short and I'm sorry about that. The next one will be longer, I'll promise. Please read and review. Tell me what you think of this story. Constructive criticism is welcome.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Izzy's grip tightened on Crystal's shoulders. He could hear the screams of the others as the shaking got more violent. He managed to get to his feet and stumble the two over to the doorway. "Tentomon!" He called out, waiting to hear his friend's response. "Tentomon!"

"Icemon!"

All of a sudden the shaking stopped. Everything remained still and quiet, as if the earthquake never happened. Izzy looked down and blushed. Crystal's face was buried in his chest and she had a death grip on his shirt. He didn't know what to do. He's been close to a girl before. With all of the dangerous situations he's been put in in the Digital World it was inevitable. Be it the weather conditions forcing them together or his desire of protecting the girls he'd ended up in some pretty weird situations. Yet this situation was foreign to him, something that no computer or book would help him with.

"Are you two ok?" Joe asked as he rushed into the room.

Izzy's face turned redder. It almost matched his hair. He looked up at Joe before gently shoving Crystal away from him. He nodded and ran a hand through his hair as Crystal crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Yeah, we're fine Joe," Izzy replied, his voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know but TK and Ken went to check it out," Joe replied, keeping his eyes on Izzy.

"I'll go help them," Crystal said quickly before scurrying out of the room, calling for Icemon.

Joe watched her leave before turning to look at Izzy, raising his eyebrows. Izzy shuffled under Joe's gaze, messing with the hem of his shirt and rubbing his neck. Izzy finally looked up at Joe who was looking at Izzy with raised eyebrows, as if waiting for him to explain. "I'll go check on the others," Izzy mumbled, walking quickly to walk past Joe. Joe flung his arm out to stop him. "Why…why are you stopping me, Joe?"

"Is there something going on between you two?" Joey questioned. Izzy looked at Joe in pure confusion. "Between you and Crystal?"

"Of course not," Izzy said while shaking his head. "It's…there's nothing between us, I assure you. She's…just been helping me work out some theories that I have."

"Why haven't you mentioned any theories to the rest of us?" Joe questioned.

"Uh…" Izzy was stumped. Joe had a point, whenever Izzy had an idea or a theory he was quick to share it with the rest of them. There was only one occasion when Izzy had kept a theory to himself, and that ended up with them getting into a fight with a few Apemon. "I…I don't want you all to worry. I don't want us to jump into things before we've had time to work through every possible outcome, that's all. With our current mission at hand it's best that we look at every possible outcome before we even plan our next move."

**~*~*~*~*~**

"It felt like it came from over there," Ken said while pointing to the woods. TK glanced up at Ken, noticing the confident look on his face. TK then turned towards the horizon, raising his hand to shield the sun from his face. Patamon rested on his head, waiting for his friend to say something or make a decision on what to do next. That's what Patamon hated, the waiting, waiting to figure out if they were going to get attacked or if it was going to be a day of peace. Patamon chuckled to himself. The DigitalWorld and peace went together like Davis and studying, they never mixed.

"Think we should go check it out, Patamon?" TK asked, easily lifting his little friend off of his head and held him so their blue eyes locked.

"It could be one of those Dark Masters though," Crystal pointed out, clutching Icemon in her arms.

"The Dark Masters don't hesitate to find us," TK replied, shaking his head slightly. "It has to be something else."

"Nya, we'll never know until we look," Icemon said.

"I don't know," TK hesitated. "I don't feel right leaving the group. And we should be trying to find the others instead of trying to find out what caused that earthquake."

"It could be the others," Ken said slowly. "I highly doubt that it was, but if it _is_ them then they need to know where we are. And an earthquake like that, it wouldn't surprise me if it were Davis's doing."

"Well…" TK hesitated, looking back and forth between the woods and the house. "Ok, we can go look for a few minutes," he decided, motioning for the others to follow him. The group remained silent as they walked in the direction of the woods. The only sound was coming from the faint sounds of rushing water. _'Must be a river'_ TK thought, pushing a few branches away from his face as they walked deeper and deeper into the woods. _'Now we know where we can get some food, at least.'_

He let Ken and Crystal walk ahead of him. Patamon noticed the change in speed and looked down at his friend. "What's on your mind, TK?" Patamon questioned, leaning forward so the brim of his hat fell into his eyes.

"Nothing, Patamon," TK replied, pushing the Digimon back up so he could see.

"Don't lie to me," Patamon urged. "I can tell when something is bothering you. I know you have something on your mind. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help. I'm a great listener."

TK contemplated Patamon's words and sighed. "I'm worried," he finally replied.

"About what?"

"Not what," TK corrected him. "Whom. Kari, I'm worried about Kari."

"Oh," was all Patamon said.

TK lifted the plump Digimon off of his head and held him so they were face to face. "What do you mean by 'oh' Patamon?" He demanded. "Aren't you worried about Kari?"

"Of course I'm worried about Kari," Patamon said. "But Kari's not the only one I'm worried about," he continued. "To be honest it doesn't surprise me that you're worried about Kari. You're always worried about Kari and, frankly, it doesn't come as a shock to anyone else anymore."

TK stumbled a bit, keeping his eyes on his friend but quickly regained his balance and kept walking. "Now what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"TK, you're fifteen, you should be old enough to recognize when you care about someone," Patamon sighed. "Ever since Kari joined our team I've noticed that you've steadily grown used to protecting Kari and being there to shield her. As I said it's no surprise to anyone that you're worried about her. Heck, you even start to grow paranoid when she's a little late for school."

"So?" TK demanded. "Kari's my best friend, I worry,"

"Yes, but your worry even seems to eclipse Tai's worry and his worry is different," Patamon continued. "You worry because your feelings towards Kari is different than the others. The others worry about her because she's a friend but you, you want to be more than friends with her." TK opened his mouth. "Everyone can see it," he interrupted. "You're the only one who can't see it. You keep denying it and telling yourself that it's only out of friendship when it's not." TK lowered his head. He knew Patamon was right. He's been harboring feelings for Kari since he joined her class a few years prior and they were reunited. It was also the same time he realized how much he had actually missed her after his move. "Why don't you tell her?"

"Because she doesn't like me the same way," TK replied, using his usual answer.

"TK, do you think she'd take time out of her day to walk with you to and from school if she didn't feel the same way?"

"That's just her being nice. She's nice to everyone."

"TK, if she didn't like you she'd be treating you the same way she treats Davis. Well, he makes it painstakingly obvious about his crush, but still. She wouldn't put up with you if she didn't like you."

TK had to admit that Patamon had a point. TK was about to comment further when he heard Ken calling his name. He placed Patamon back on his head and ran through the forest, coming out at a clearing of tall grass where Ken and Crystal were standing, looking at something, their Digimon were by their sides. "What is it?" TK asked, looking between the two.

"Look." Ken pointed.

TK followed Ken's finger to the large rock that was jutting out of the middle of clearing. On the front was a symbol that TK hadn't seen in a long time and didn't believe was in front of him.

It was the symbol of the Crest of Hope.

"No way," TK whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. To be honest I forgot about this story for a bit, but I got some plans with the story so I hope you readers stick around to find out what happenes. Also, I know my chapters are really short and I'm sorry about that. The next one will be longer, I'll promise. Please read and review. Tell me what you think of this story.** **Constructive criticism is welcome.**


	25. Chapter 25

_**Chapter 25**_

He could feel Patamon squirming on his head. TK just couldn't believe that the Crest of Hope symbol was sitting right in front of his face. He thought the Crests had been destroyed, so to speak. He couldn't wrap his head around it. They used the power of their Crests to restore the Digital World to its rightful state. They willingly gave up the power for their Digimon to go to Ultimate to help protect the Digital World. And now, the Crest of Hope was looking him right in the face.

"I don't…believe it," TK whispered, finally stumbling forward, never taking his eyes off of the rock. "There's just no way."

"It's here, TK," Patamon said from atop TK's head.

"It _can't_."

"What is it?" Crystal asked, tilting her head slightly.

"It's the symbol of the Crest of Hope," Ken replied.

"The Crest of what?"

"The Crest of Hope," Ken repeated. "Every Digidestined has a crest. It helps their Digimon Digivolve to the Ultimate level. Also, each DigiEgg that we use has a Crest on it. A Crest, basically, is an attribute of the holder. Tai's for example, is the Crest of Courage because he is the bravest of all of us."

"Not quite," TK replied with a smile. "The Crests aren't attributes of the holder, but of everyone in the group. Tai had the Crest of Courage because it was the courage he felt from the rest of the group. Like my Crest of Hope isn't just my Hope but everyones."

"But Tai doesn't have a DigiEgg so someone else has the Crest of Courage, right?" Crystal asked.

"In a way," Icemon spoke up. "The Crests and DigiEggs are two different things. Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, TK, and Kari all had the eight original Crests. Their Crests were used to restore the DigitalWorld which meant that they can't be used again and the Digimon couldn't evolve into Ultimate for a while. The DigiEggs that Davis, Yolei, Cody, Kari, and TK have has the Crest symbol on them because of the attributes they have inside. Kari and TK are the only ones who still have their past Crest attribute symbols on their DigiEggs."

"Ooooh," Crystal muttered. "So…what's it doing on the rock?"

"That we don't know," Ken replied.

"Why don't you touch it to see what happens, TK?" Wormmon suggested.

"What if something bad happens," TK said with uncertainty.

"But what if something _good_ happens?" Patamon asked. "You never know until you try. Remember, that's how we got the power to Armor Digivolve." He clung to his friend's head when TK nodded in remembrance. "So why don't you try it now?" But TK couldn't move. He didn't want to admit it but he was afraid, _very_ afraid. He didn't know what would happen if he touched it. He was afraid that something bad would happen because they always seemed to attract trouble, even when they weren't doing anything. "TK!"

"OK, OK." TK took in a deep breath and stepped forward, his eyes trained on the Crest of Hope that stared back at him. He slowly reached out his hand, gulped, and pressed his palm against the stone. A few seconds went by and nothing happened. All was still. Sighing, he slowly dropped his hand, dragging his fingertips across the surface before bring his arm back to his side.

"I was sure something was going to happen," Patamon muttered, sadness filling his voice. "I want to Digivolve again."

"Oh Pata'." TK took his friend off of his head and hugged him tight. "Let's go back before the others start to worry. And then we can go in search for the others."

"Good idea. I don't like the idea of being split up," Ken said as they started their walk back. "But should we be the ones to move? Should they find us instead? I mean, we have a pretty safe place."

"As safe as we can be with that earthquake earlier," Crystal commented.

"Think about it. Would you rather stay in a home with food and a bed or would you rather sleep in the forest and be easy to target?"

Crystal sighed. She knew she was in a losing battle and there was no point in trying to get them to change their minds. She didn't want to admit it but they had a point. She just didn't feel right staying there when they could be looking for everyone else. While separated they could easily be attacked and be outnumbered than if they were together. If they were all there then it would be easier for them to fight Diaboromon.

"Are you ok?" Icemon asked, landing on Crystal's shoulder.

"I don't like waiting around, that's all," Crystal replied. "That rock is important, right? Why aren't we doing anything about it? Why are we just going back?" She pulled Icemon into her arms and hugged him tight as he snuggled into the crook of her elbow. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly wondering when she became a follower instead of the leader she used to be.

She smiled at the thought. Years ago, even before she and Willis got their Digimon, whenever they played together she would always be the leader. He claimed she was bossing him around but she simply stated that she was simply being assertive and he needed to stop being such a pushover. In hindsight she might have been a tad bit bossy but what was the problem in that? Willis wasn't a wimp anymore and it was all because of her. Really, he should thank her for giving him courage and the ability to stand up to people.

She gently stroked Icemon's head and looked around at the Digital World. It was times like these that she couldn't help but think she was the reason for Willis's troubles. She was there when he first got his Digimon (she had been sleeping over and they were playing on the computer trying to keep quiet so they wouldn't get in trouble when it happened), she was there when he created Diaboromon, when he got his first C on a report card, everything. She couldn't help but feel if everything was _her_ fault. She was always there when something happened, albeit it's coincidence, but she couldn't help but think that she was really the reason for all of their problems.

"What took you so long?" Crystal lifted her head at the tone in Willis's voice. She hadn't noticed that they had made it back to the house. She and Willis stood outside. She hadn't noticed that TK and Ken had gone in. She hadn't noticed anything, really, she was too wrapped up in her thoughts.

"We found this rock," Crystal finally replied. "It had the Crest of Hope on it we were taking a look at it to figure out what it meant. TK tried touching it to see if it would do anything, activate anything. Nothing happened so we decided to come back. I wanted to find the others but I was voted against, I guess." She knitted her eyebrows together. "Why?"

Willis's lip twitched slightly. "You were gone for a while."

"You were worried," Crystal supplied.

Willis flushed. "We didn't know if you got attacked or anything."

"You were worried," she repeated, a smile forming on her face. "Come on, it's not that hard to say. Admit it."

"I wasn't worried," Willis denied. "I was…far from it."

"You were worried!" she bounced on her toes with glee. "Aww, and here I thought you didn't care about me." She had a teasing grin on her face.

"Ha, you wish!"

Icemon struggled out of Crystal's arms and she slackened her grip. He shot into the air, looked down at the two and smiled a bit before going in search for Terriermon and Lopmon. He and the twins were practically joined at the hip. Despite being a different species they joked saying that they were siblings since they were 'born' on the same day. Icemon finally found them in the kitchen. Lopmon was sitting on top of the counter watched Terriermon with a mixture of fascination and disgust on her face as Terriermon shoved more food into his mouth.

"What are you doing, nya?" Icemon questioned, walking over to them. He sat back on his haunches and tilted his head slightly, the little crystal tips on his fur sparkled in the sunlight the streamed into the room.

"Terrier is sick of not being able to Digivolve so he's eating thinking that if he gets enough energy he can," Lopmon summarized, sighing.

"The only thing that will happen is you'll get enough energy to burp if we're lucky, nya," Icemon said before licking his front right paw and rubbing some dirt off of his ear. "You're going to get a stomach ache, nya."

"C'mon guys, this has to be the solution to our problems," Terriermon said after swallowing. He loud out a loud belch, something that surprised Icemon from coming out of a little guy. Lopmon sighed and flopped back on the table as Icemon laid out on the floor altogether and watched Terriermon intensely. His ears twitched and he lifted his head slightly when he heard footsteps coming his way. He jumped to his feet and flapped his wings hard, pushing himself into the air. As soon as the person rounded the corner Icemon went into a divebomb.

"Aaah! Icemon, what're you doing?" Izzy's voice came out muffled underneath the fur of Icemon's stomach as he latched onto Izzy's face.

"Haha! I got you! You were scared weren't you, nya?" Icemon asked, jumping off of Izzy's head and flapping his wings steadily to stay in the air. Izzy couldn't help but stare at the way the light bounced off of his wings, sparkles of the rainbow floating around them with every downstroke. He shook his head and turned his attention to Terriermon who had flopped onto the floor, holding his large stomach.

"Terriermon! What're you doing?" Izzy demanded.

"Terrier though that eating a lot would give him the energy needed to Digivolve," Lonmon explained. "I guess he ate too much."

"Terriermon, energy is a big part of it, yes, but that doesn't mean you should stuff your face," Izzy sighed, kneeling and helped Terriermon sit up. "You know, Tai had the same idea when we were younger." Terriermon's head snapped up at the mention of the leader's name. Izzy gently petted Terriermon on the head. "He thought that the only way he could get his Crest to work was to get Augumon to have a lot of energy. The problem was that he was _pushing_ Augumon too hard. When they got into a fight Augumon, well, let's say he had _too_ much power." Terriermon gulped at the tone in Izzy's voice. "Augumon, as Greymon, eventually Digivolved…but into SkullGremon. SkullGreymon was a reckless Digimon. Greymon actually Dark Digivolved, at the time we didn't think that was possible but you could tell that he became a dark Digimon. He would attack anything that got in his way, he was uncontrollable.

"He couldn't remember who his friends were, if he wanted to at least. The darkness has a funny control over people. He attacked Birdramon, Garurumon, and Kabuterimon before destroying the Colosieum. He used so much energy that after that he reverted back to Koromon but the damage was done. Tai realized his mistake afterwards, that you can't force a Digimon to Digivolve unless you want something else like that to happen. You have to let it come naturally."

Terriermon's eyes were as wide as saucers once Izzy finished his story. He let out a sort of groan and struggled to his feet. His stomach buged so much it almost touched the floor and he waddled when he walked. "Why can't we Digivolve? I want to Digivolve like the others! It's not faaaaiiiirrrr!" He wailed.

"I've been working on a couple of theories," Izzy said over Terriermon's whining. "The biggest one, Crystal's theory actually, is the only one that makes the most sense. You can't Digivolve because you don't have your DigiEgg yet."

"So why don't we just go looking for them?" Lopmon asked.

"It's not that easy," Izzy sighed. "If you're forgotten we're hiding. We're hiding from the Dark Masters _and_ the most powerful Digimon we've ever faced. This Digimon…it almost destroyed the world by hacking into the Internet and firing _missiles_ at us. The Dark Masters were hard by themselves but Diaboromon has the chance to not only destroy the Digital World but my world as well."

"But it's not fair that we can't go looking!" Terriermon wailed. "I bet that's where Willis is. That's why he didn't want us to come!"

"Come?" Izzy repeated. "Terriermon, what do you mean?" Terriermon chose that time to let out a groan, grab his swollen belly and fall onto his bottom as Lopmon and Icemon joined them. Izzy closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten in his head before opening them again.

"Icemon, did Crystal and Willis go looking for your DigiEggs?" Izzy asked slowly, looking Icemon in the eye.

Icemon's eyes darted back and forth between Izzy and the twin Digimon who were subtly shaking their heads. "Aaaaaaah! She told me not to tell! She and Willis went looking for the DigiEggs around the rock we saw in the woods today, nya!" Icemon wailed, throwing himself to the ground.

Izzy clenched his hand into a fist and pounded the top of the counter. The Digimon jumped in reaction. "Icemon, go get the others. Quickly. Tell Tentomon to fly ahead."

"What're you doing?" Lopmon asked.

"We have to find them before one of the Dark Masters finds them first."

* * *

"This is the rock, huh?" Willis wiped his sweaty brow with his gray sleeve before rolling them up to his elbows. He stared intently at the symbol on the front of the rock as Crystal sat by, watching him. "So the Crests look something like this." He gently placed his hand on top of the symbol.

"Something like that," Crystal corrected. "I heard Izzy saying something about them being different shapes for different people."

"And whatever Izzy says _must_ be right," Willis muttered under his breath, rubbing his hands together to get the dirt off.

"Do I detect a bit of bitterness, Henderson?" Crystal asked, lifting an eyebrow. "What the heck's wrong with you lately? It seems like every time I say something you make a bitter comment about it."

"I wouldn't have to if you'd talk about anything else but Izzy all of the time," Willis replied without looking at her. He heard her making a scoffing noise and felt her presence behind him.

"Yet you can go on and on about all of the 'nice girls' you've met," Crystal said with air quotes and an eye roll. "You're setting a double standard here."

"_I'm_ not doing anything," Willis said, finally turning around. Crystal was shocked at the smoldering look in his blue eyes. She's never seen him this angry before. It wouldn't surprise her if he attacked her right then and there he looked that mad. His features were stony, it didn't fit his sweet face. He turned his hand into a fist and for a second she braced herself, waiting to get punched. Willis let out a slow breath and unclenched his fingers. "You know what? It doesn't matter. We should be focusing on how to get our Digimon to Digivolve."

"So you're just going to ignore this and walk away?" Crystal demanded, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring at Willis's retreating back.

"Uh huh," he replied.

"Why the hell are you such a fucking coward?" Crystal shouted at him. "Why can't you ever face your problems? Why do you always run away?" He didn't respond. "Fine, run away, _again_! Just let Diaboromon take over the world. We can all blame you for this since you were stupid enough to create him in the first place!"

Willis stopped and stiffened, his hands clenching into fists. She has never gone that far. She's been mad at him plenty of times before but never has she gone that far. Willis squeezed his eyes shut. _'Calm down, it's just the stress of all that's happening talking. That's not her, that's not your Crystal'_ he told himself trying to keep his blood from boiling. His face was red with anger; he probably looked like a lobster. He slowly turned around and faced her. Never in his life did he want to harm her until now. "What…did…you…just…say to me?" He hissed.

Crystal held her ground. "You heard me."

Willis stomped over to her and glared down at her. "You _know_ how I feel about this…this Diaboromon thing. How _dare_ you throw it back in my face like that?"

"How dare you _talk_ to me like that?" Crystal shot back. "As I said you're setting a fucking double standard and I won't stand for it. I say one thing about Izzy and you jump down my throat!"

"One thing?" He repeated. "_One_ thing? That's all that ever comes out of your mouth! Izzy said this and Izzy said that. Do you even_ have_ your own thought process anymore?"

"Ohhh, I get it now, you're jealous!"

"Of _what_?" They were practically nose to nose now.

"Of someone possibly being smarter than you are."

"Don't make me laugh!"

"I'm not joking."

Before Willis could retort a line of explosions pushed them apart as dust shot up in their faces. Crystal covered her face with her arms and felt herself being yanked backwards, as if strings were tied around her.

"What the hell?" She managed to yell through the dust that was going into her lungs.

"Oh neat! A new toy for me to play with." The dust slowly faded away and Crystal turned her head, her eyes locking on the wooden frame of none other than Puppetmon. "Hmm, you're new aren't you?" Puppetmon used his strings to turn her this way and that as Crystal struggled to get free. "You may pose to be a problem but I can make you obey," he laughed, lifting his mallet in the other hand.

"Ugh! Let go of me, Pinocchio!" Crystal growled.

"Pinocchio! That's the best you can come up with?" Puppetmon laughed. "This was too easy. Diaboromon will have to give me a promotion once I bring you back."

"Put her down!" Willis shouted, grabbing a rock and throwing it with all his might. It bounced off of Puppetmon's head harmlessly.

Puppetmon glanced at Crystal, then at Willis and shrugged, "Ok." Grinning he brought the strings down, slamming Crystal's body into the ground. When he picked her back up she hung limp. "You told me to put her down," Puppetmon laughed as Willis clenched his hands into fists.

_'What'm I going to do?'_


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Kari let out a loud, shuddering gasp, staring off into the distance. Davis was by her side in an instant. "Kari, what's wrong? What happened?" Davis asked, his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye.

She slowly shook her head, and then squeezed her eyes shut as if she had a headache. "We have to get to the others. Something's wrong. We need to help them."

"Kari, we don't even know where they are," Sora pointed out.

"We can try to find them. We're not good as a group separated like this. We need to be back together. Haven't we learned that by now?"

"Kari, it would take us longer to defeat that DarkMasters if we were together. Staying split up would probably help us in the long run," Tai said.

She shook her head. "I think you're wrong."

"Remember when we fought them before? Remember when we fought Machinedramon? We were able to defeat him with just WarGreymon. We don't necessarily need the others."

"WarGreymon…the light was what helped us defeat Machinedramon, Tai," Kari whispered. "We wouldn't have been able to defeat him without the others if the light hadn't stepped in. We _need_ the others, Tai, and if you don't want to go look for them, I'll go by myself."

Tai grumbled under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair. Deep down he knew that Kari was right, that they had to find the others. But the DigitalWorld was so big, he didn't even know _where_ to start looking for them. And what if the DarkMasters attacked while they were looking for their friends? They wouldn't stand a chance unless a miracle happened. They've gotten lucky before but he didn't know how much longer their luck was going to stick around with them. He could feel everyone's' eyes on him, waiting for him to make a decision, he _was _the leader after all. "We should…go look in the morning. There's no point in trying to find them tonight. We need to be well rested. So, you younger ones can go to sleep and Matt, Sora, and I will take turns being on the lookout."

"No Tai, let me stay up with the rest of you," Kari said defiantly.

Tai smiled, walked over to his sister, and put his hands on her shoulders. "I appreciate the help, Hikari, but some of us need to be rested just in case something happens. It's only right that Matt, Sora, and I are the ones who should guard the rest of you. Ok? So get some sleep, we'll head out early tomorrow." He kissed her forehead.

"Ok Tai," she sighed.

"Come on, Kari," Yolei said as she grasped her friend's hand and led her to the back of the cave, away from the entrance.

"Tai's just doing what he thinks is right, Kari," Gatomon told her as she walked in circles, finding the right place to lie down before curling up into a ball as the group pulled out their sleeping bags.

"But what if he's not right this time," Kari whispered, getting into her sleeping bag. "I felt something, Gato'. I felt…scared, fear, and adrenaline rushing through me all at once. And it wasn't because of something that was happening to us. It was something that was happening to the others, I'm sure. I just don't know what and I'm scared that TK—" she stopped and looked at Gatomon who opened one eye and smiled at her "—that one of the others got seriously hurt."

"Running off blindly into the middle of the night isn't going to help anyone," Gatomon yawned. "Might as well stay put. No need in getting more people hurt running around like chickens without heads."

"I know you're right. I know you're all right but I just can't shake this feeling," she sighed. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling of the cave as, one by one, the others fell asleep. She could hear Tai, Matt, and Sora talking quietly near the front of the cave.

Kari felt bad for Tai. She knew all along that he had a crush on his best friend but didn't want to do anything about it once Matt fell for her. Really, Tai liked her first and it seemed as if they would finally get together but then Matt stepped in. Tai was always the outgoing one yet whenever it came to liking a girl it was as if he and Matt switched roles. Matt was never shy when it came to girls, he was so confident he could even be referred to as a player, but Matt was respectful towards women.

Just like TK.

Kari sighed again. She didn't know when her feelings for TK changed but they were causing her more harm than good. She hated waiting around, analyzing everything he did or said to see if it meant he felt the same way. By the end of the day she always convinced herself that they were to remain friends but the next day would make her hopes soar even higher before plummeting again.

They were like a yo-yo. One day she was sure she was going to tell him how she felt because he would show signs that he felt the same way but then he'd do or say something that would get her to change her mind.

Kari sat up and let out a small breath. Gatomon's ear twitched and she opened her eyes slightly to see Kari sitting up. "What are you doing?" Gatomon asked.

"Sssh," Kari hissed. "I can't sleep. I just want to take a look around."

"I think you should stay here," Gatomon replied, opening her eyes all the way. "Tai would have a fit if he sees you gone."

"Tai has a fit when I take out the garbage. Apparently he doesn't know how long it takes to walk down the stairs to the garbage room," Kari said with an eyeroll. "Besides, I won't be gone long."

"Ok, I'm coming. I'm coming." Gatomon got up and stretched, leaning far back on her haunches before following Kari to the back of the cave. She quietly tiptoed towards the back of the cave. She turned on her flashlight when the light from the fire weakened. Kari kept her other hand on the wall just in case another tunnel opened up. "Something feels weird," Gatomon muttered.

"You feel that too?" Kari asked. A weird feeling had washed over her, like something warm had started to fill up her insides from her toes up to her head but the higher the heat went coldness settled in behind it.

She stopped when her fingers slid across a wet surface. She turned the flashlight to the wall and saw that the rock was dry. She looked down at her fingers and saw that they were shiny as if they had touched water. "Is the ground wet?" She turned the flashlight to the ground.

"No," Gatomon said as she checked her paws.

"But why…?" Her voice cut off when the sound of waves crashing filled her ears. "No," she whispered. "No, not again!" She dropped the flashlight and brought her hands up to her ears to block 'em out. "Anything but that, please!"

_Fight it Kari, fight it. Think of the light. Think of the light! _She gritted her teeth together and focused on trying to get light to invade the darkness that was swirling around her, crushing her. There was a bright flash of pink light and Kari suddenly found herself able to breathe.

She wiped at her face and noticed that tears had fallen. She hastily wiped them away and crouched down to get her flashlight but what was bathed in the flashlight was what made her stop in her tracks.

"Gatomon…why are you all black?"

* * *

**A/N: **Finally an update. It's short but it's an update, right? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter anyway. Sorry it took me so long, I've had to deal with life and my computer was busted but now it's fixed and everything should work accordingly. Thanks for bearing with me.


	27. Chapter 27

_**Chapter 27**_

"Gatomon…why are you all black?" Kari whispered, staring hard at her friend. Gatomon looked the same as before. The only difference was that she was now all black and her gloves were purple with black streaks instead of green.

Gatomon looked at her pawns, her stomach, and then at her tail. "I don't know," Black Gatomon replied.

"Did you feel anything at all? A surge of energy? Anything?" Kari asked, trying to wrap her head around what had happened. Who was she kidding? They were in the Digital World and nothing made sense that was for sure. She still hadn't had a large grasp on how they had become the DIgidestined in the first place but she never questioned it, she just went along with it, and sometimes she thought that was her problem.

Black Gatomon shook her head. "I was just standing here when you dropped the flashlight. I didn't feel a change or anything. Besides the creepy feeling I get by being in old dark caves, but that's natural."

Kari smiled a little at the humor in Black Gatomon's voice. "You couldn't have changed by yourself." She tapped her chin and suddenly gasped. "Remember what Izzy said? About the new Digi Eggs?"

Black Gatomon seemed to catch onto Kari's train of thought. "Do you really think that you're to have the DIgi Egg of Darkness? There's no Dark bone in your body. You were given the Crest of Light for a reason."

"But what if the Darkness is a part of me as well, Gatomon?" Kari sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Think about it, the Dark Ocean. The voices. Being able to control the light. The light being able to control _me_. Izzy even said that Darkness can't live without the live, what if…what if I have Darkness inside of me too? What if that's what the Dark Ocean was? The Darkness inside of me trying to get me to control it?"

"Then it would lead me to wonder why you got the Crest of Light? If what you're saying is true yo could've easily gotten the Crest of Darkness," Black Gatomon pointedout.

"Is there such a thing?" Kari asked.

Black Gatomon shrugged. "I don't know. There could be."

Kari sighed and moved her flashlight to the back of the cave. "Maybe…maybe the Digi Egg is here," she thought aloud as Black Gatomon stood by her side. "It would make sense, wouldn't it? With what happened? And with my Crest…it _has_ to be here. We have to find it before something else does."

"But Kari, we don't know how long this cave goes," Black Gatomon pointed out.

"At least we can say we tried right?" Kari said, without waiting for Black Gatomon's response she started to make her way further into the cave. She kept an ear listening for the others in case they woke up but everything was silent aside from her shoes scuffing against the ground. Black Gatomon walked by Kari's side and Kari kept a hand on the wall just in case it gave way to a different tunnel but they continued walking and walking on the same, long path.

"I don't feel like we've gone anywhere," Black Gatomon sighed, sitting down, her ears drooping as well as her eyelids. "How long have we been walking? My feet hurt."

"Come on, Gatomon, we can't just give up," Kari told her partner in a firm voice.

"We don't even know if the Digi Egg is in here."

"We can't just give up."

"Why not?" Black Gatomon demanded. "When we need it we'll find it. It's like how we found Davis's and Yolei's and Cody's. It's how you found mine in the first place. We didn't necessarily find them, they found us. And we can't be so sure that the Digi Egg of Darkness is yours. I mean…" Gatomon's voice trailed off and she looked down at her feet. "I don't want it to be yours."

"Huh?" Kari scratched as her hair. Now Gatomon wasn't making any sense at all. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen what evil does to Digimon. I've seen what the Darkness does. I've lived with the Darkest evil Digimon that could ever live," Black Gatomon hissed. "It killed my best friend and I don't want it to happen to you." Black Gatomon clenched her teeth, eyes, and fists. "I don't want to go through the pain again, Kari! I don't. I _can't_."

Kari knelt and gave her friend a big hug. "I understand, Gato. I do. But these DIgi Eggs were made to help us and we won't know how they will until we find them. I understand, Gatomon. I'm scared too. I'm scared that there will be too much Darkness and I won't be able to fight it but you know what?" She reached out and brushed the tears that were dripping down her partner's soft fur. "I know, with my friends here, they can help me through it if it happens. And I can help you through it. We're partners and I'm not going to give up on you. Never."

Black Gatomon relaxed in Kari's touch and rested her forehead on her friend's shoulder. "I wish Wizardmon was here," Black Gatomon whispered. "He knew everything. He'd be able to help us out, let us know how to defeat the Dark Masters again, and beat Diaboromon once and for all."

"We can't always expect to get help," Kari pointed out, rubbing the top of Black Gatomon's hair. "We've beat them before, we can do it again. The question is _why_ are they back? What kind of Vendetta do they have?" As soon as the words left Kari's mouth she understood the whole thing. Why Diaboromon was back and why he brought the Dark Masters back with him.

The Dark Masters were trying to stop the DIgiDestined from saving the Digital World from orders by Apocalymon. They were strong on their own but, attacking together, they could beat anyone. They all knew it, Diaboromon must've known it as well, after all he was smart enough to take over the internet and fire missiles at Japan and Colorado.

And Diaboromon, he was created as a mistake, as Willis had explained before. Diaboromon spent his time on the internet looking for Willis, to do what she didn't know. But even when Diaboromon was destroyed the virus attacked Kokomon and turned him into Wendigomon, which was another big problem for them. Kari always thought that the virus was gone after that but, as the Digimon say, Digimon never die, they just get reconfigured. Which meant it really was only a matter of time for the Dark Masters and Diaboromon to be reconfigured and achieve their one goal.

They didn't want to just take over the world, they wanted to pay the humans back, mainly the Digidestined, for what they did to stop them. They didn't just want to make them suffer; they wanted to destroy the DigiDestined. But Kari knew they, Diaboromon especially, wanted to get rid of the one thing that started it all.

Willis.

* * *

**A/N:** There are two things I relaized about this chapter. 1) I could've easily put it in Chapter 26 and 2) for a long wait it was short. I know, I know, I apologize perfously but I still hope I have people interested in this story. If not, I'll just write it for myself because i'm having a lot of fun with it. ^_^ Exams are coming up but I should be able to update a bit more during and/or after the exams (who studies for 'em anyway?) The next chapter will go back to Willis and the others. I have many twists and turns for this story because I suddenly got inspiration by doing math (how math helped I don't know, but I guess I'm thankful for it) and I hope you guys can brace yourselves for a wild ride. Please leave a review!


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Willis's eyes darted around as he wracked his brain to try and come up with something. He was smart for God's sake, he knew it, but he couldn't get his brain to form a single thought other than to help her. But that repeated in his mind so much he couldn't force himself to think of a plan or to even move. He just stood there in shock as Puppetmon taunted him.

"What's the matter? Blondie doesn't want to play?" Puppetmon asked with a laugh.

"Let her go," Willis ordered.

"Hmmm." Puppetmon rubbed his chin as if he were thinking things over. "_No_!" He yelled and laughed. "Did you really think I'd give her over that easily? She's my new play toy and I'm sure I can find a lot of uses for her. She'll keep me entertained for a while before I destroy her."

Willis's blood boiled at the crude way he was speaking of his friend. He wanted to torch the psychotic puppet but he didn't know how to get her out of the way or else she'd be hurt as well. And she's been hurt a few times too many because of him advertently or inadvertently._ C'mon, guys, where are you?_ He looked around for his friends but didn't hear or see anything that would reassure them that they were coming.

"Hmm, I might as well bring you with me. That way I have more people to play with and you can't alert your stupid friends," Puppetmon pondered. He then laughed gleefully and shot ropes at Willis. Before he could even move the red roped wrapped around him and he fell to the ground, wiggling around and struggling to get free. But it was no use, his arms were pinned to his sides and his legs were wrapped together tightly. Puppetmon stood over Willis and then laughed gleefully, much like a little child. "Finally I have someone to play with me! Not like that liar, TK—"

"TK?" Willis repeated, suddenly being struck with an idea. "You've met him before?"

"Yeah, he said he was going to play Hide and Seek with me but he lied," Puppetmon replied, the malice returning to his voice.

"I know where TK is. Actually, I know where the rest of the DIgiDestined are." Willis talked quickly, almost as quickly as his heart beat against his ribcage. He was surprised that Puppetmon didn't hear, however Puppetmon seemed to have a one-track mind… "And I'll take you to them if you let her and I go."

"All right it's a deal!" Puppetmon cheered, dancing on the spot. "Wait a minute," he mumbled, stopping on a dime. "What if this is some sort of trick?"

"No trick. I'm completely vulnerable here," Willis replied. Puppetmon looked around as if making sure Willis's words were true. He then unbound Willis and he took in a deep breath, wincing at the ache in his ribs. He took a few more deep breaths before standing. He looked Puppetmon hard in his eye. "Let her go first."

Grumbling, Puppetmon released his ropes and Crystal fell to the ground. Willis rushed to her side as she seemed to come to from the fall. She held her head and groaned. Willis dropped to his knees and put a hand on her shoulder, tilting slightly to take a good look at her face. "Are you ok?" He asked, breathlessly.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," she managed to reply.

"I'm not the one who ran off."

"I didn't want to sit around the dang place doing nothing!"

Willis grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, making sure she was stable and then turned to Puppetmon. "Ok, now we'll show you where the others are. A deal's a deal."

"Are you—" Crystal started but Willis elbowed her hard in the side and she immediately shut her mouth. Willis shot her a look telling her to trust him. She barely nodded and followed him down the dirt path. He kept his eyes on the path in front of him, not daring to look at Puppetmon behind them. He knew they were taking a chance leading Puppetmon to their friends when he could easily attack them from behind, but it was the only plan he had and he had to be sure that it carried out.

"I can't wait to see the look on TK's face," Puppetmon muttered along the walk. "His ol' buddy Puppetmon is back! I'm sure to win this game of Hide and Seek this time."

"Hide and…?" Crystal muttered.

"Don't ask," Willis replied. "Ok, we're almost at the house." As discreetly as possible Willis pulled his D-terminal out of his pocket, composed a message, and sent it to everyone. It was better to let the other group know what was going on instead of leaving them in the dark. His palms started to sweat and his fingers started to twitch. He prayed to all the Digi Gods that Puppetmon wouldn't notice his nervousness.

Just a few more steps…

"All right, all right. Where is he?" Puppetmon demanded, holding his hammer menacingly. "If you don't take me to TK soon I will—"

"Puppetmon, I can't say it's good to see you again," TK commented as he stepped out of the clearing. Excitement filled Puppetmon's eyes for a brief second before it was replaced with shock and disbelief. He couldn't believe that the young man standing in front of him was TK. Last Puppetmon remembered TK was an annoying little kid that he thought he could easily scared but now…there he was standing in front of him, no sign of fear in his eyes at all. Just confidence.

"Wha…wha…what's this? Is this some kind of trick?" Puppetmon demanded. "It is! This is a trick!" His grip tightening on his hammer before he swung it. "_Puppet Pummel!"_

Before any of them could move he swung his hammer down and a barrage of bullets went flying at them.

"Look out!"

TK slowly lowered his arms which he brought up to protect his face and looked up to see MegaKabuterimon looking down at him. He had managed to jump in the way in time and block Puppetmon's attack. "Izzy, nice timing!" TK called happily as Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and Ken rushed over.

"If Willis didn't send that message in time we wouldn't have made it," Izzy replied, nodding over at Willis who nodded back. Willis looked up as Lillymon flew overhead as well as Stingmon and Zudomon brought up the rear.

"Willis! Willis!" Terriermon and Lopmon chorused, flying towards their friend.

"Ah! Icemon!" Crystal cried happily, grabbing her friend from mid-air and giving him a hug.

"You brats will pay for that trick!" Puppetmon growled once MegaKabuterimon got out of the way. He then blanched (if that were possible for a puppet) once he saw the others. "What's going on here? They're back too!" He cried out, panic settling in his voice but he quickly changed it to one of confidence. "I beat you once, I can do it again! _Puppet Pummel_!"

"Get out of the way!" Ken yelled. Stingmon swooped down and scooped up Ken, managing to get him out of the way in time. Lillymon grabbed Mimi's hand and pulled her out of the way. MegaKabuterimon grabbed Izzy and Willis in one of his hands and they scrambled onto his back as he flew out of the way of the attack. Joe and Crystal managed to scramble onto Zudomon's back and blocked themselves from the attack. MagnaAngemon grabbed TK and lifted him into the air as the attack moved across the ground with high speed, missing all of them.

"Watch out, guys, he's a Mega level Digimon," Izzy warned.

"Well then, let's give it all we've got," Zudomon replied, the other Digimon letting out cries of agreement.

"_Horn Buster_!"

"_Spiking Strike_!"

"_Vulcan's Hammer_!"

"_Vicious Vine_!"

"_Bunny Blast_!"

"_Blazing Ice_"

"_Gate of Destiny_."

Puppetmon jumped and dodged all of the attacks and barely managed to escape from the blast of light that came out of MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny. He laughed tauntingly at them. "Get out of my way, you pests," he muttered, taking his puppet cross off of his back and throwing it like a boomerang. It smacked into Patamon, Terriermon, and Lopmon who let out cries of pain as they fell.

"I have to help!" Icemon gasped.

"No!" Crystal replied, holding onto him tighter. He struggled to get out of her grasp but she wouldn't budge.

"But Crys—"

"You can't fight Icemon," she replied. "That's final. You're not fighting. You _can't_."

"Guys, this isn't the time!" Joe begged but the two ignored him.

"I can't sit around like a Scardey Mon and do nothing, nya!" Icemon replied, struggling even more to get out of her grasp. He let out a little growl and bit her on the arm. She let out a little gasp and dropped him.

"Icemon!"

"This is great!" Puppetmon laughed. "You can't even control your own Digimon! That's why we don't need worthless and pathetic partners like you!"

"I'm here to protect you, not be protected!" Icemon told Crystal, looking her straight in the eye. "I'm not your pet, nya!"

"Stop fighting, you two!" Mimi scolded them. "There is no room for fighting between us. We're a _team_ and we should act like one."

Crystal's lip twitched but she nodded. Icemon nodded as well and lowered himself so he was standing on Zudomon's back. Crystal didn't trust that he wasn't going to fly off so she picked him up again. Icemon let out a little sigh but settled himself into her arms.

He hated not being able to Digivolve and help the others. He hated being treated like a pet even more but he got used to it. Crystal was that way since day one. It wasn't that he wasn't flattered about her looking out for him, but maybe she did it a bit too much…? She hardly let him out of her sight, even when all he was doing as playing with Lopmon and Terriermon. It was as if she were trying to take him out of every possible situation of him getting hurt, but he still couldn't figure out _why…_

"Now then, to rid us of this pest," Ken called out, bringing everyone's attention back to the puppet who had been watching them in amusement. Puppetmon had a gleam of amusement in his eye. There was nothing better than having his own opponents fighting each other. He figured he wouldn't have to lift a finger and they'd destroy themselves. Letting out a bored sigh, he got ready to fight again.

"One more chance to get a chance to play a fun game before I destroy you," Puppetmon said. "I'm willing to give you all some time to live a bit longer."

"Sorry Puppetmon, but I'm not going to play games with you this time," TK muttered darkly. MagnaAngemon could practically feel the hatred seeping through TK and into him. It scared him a little to see TK so…_mean._ He was so used to seeing TK as the normal happy-go-lucky, somewhat bubbly, and understanding. Seeing TK like that made a shiver run down his spine and a fearful thought fill his head, _What if TK was to get the DigiEgg of Darkness…?_

"Fine then, I'll destroy you instead as payback for tricking me," Puppetmon sighed. He then lunged forward, moving through the air at a high speed. "_Drill Nose_!"

"TK, look out!" Izzy called, quikly calculating the trajectory in his head.

"I'll take care of him," Lillymon told him. "Catch Mimi." Before Mimi could even prepare herself Lillymon dropped her. Mimi let out a little scream as she fell. MegaKabuterimon flew beneath her and Izzy managed to catch her before she hit MegaKabuterimon's hard beetle-like shell.

"Nice catch," she mused. Izzy blushed and set her down, rubbing the back of his neck. He could hear Willis snickering next to him and turned redder. It didn't help that Mimi was smiling at him in a peculiar way.

"_Flower…Cannon_!" Lillymon brought her hands up, forming a canon out of the petals around her wrist. A green blast of energy was sent flying at Puppetmon. It bounced harmlessly off of Puppetmon's hammer.

"_Vulcan's Hammer_!" Joe and Crystal both grabbed onto Zudomon's back as he brought his hammer up and swung it down. A single, powerful, spark shot at Puppetmon. He yawned as he blocked the attack.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon called. He managed to get behind Puppetmon and lunged forward, sending a powerful strike his way but Puppetmon easily swung around and smashed Stingmon with his hammer.

"Hahahaha! I squashed that bug!" Puppetmon quipped over Stingmon's scream of pain as he and Ken fell to the ground. Stingmon quickly got back into the air and lunged at Puppetmon again and again but Puppetmon blocked each attack, laughing.

"Don't give up, Stingmon," Ken called. "He can't keep blocking our attacks forever!"

TK clenched his teeth together. It was obvious when he was brought back to life that he knew how to fight better. There had to be something they could do to get Puppetmon to mess up somehow. His house wasn't anywhere near them so they couldn't use it against him. And none of them could Digivolve to Mega and bring the playing field up to a better advantage. _MetalGarurumon beat him before by an attack at point-blank range. Even if we tried that he'd block all of our attacks with that hammer of his…that's it_!

"Willis," TK called. "Get Terriermon and Lopmon to fire attacks at Puppetmon's feet!"

Willis nodded and then turned to his Digimon. "You heard him."

Terriermon and Lopmon fired their attacks at Puppetmon's feet. He hastily started bouncing from side to side so his feet wouldn't get caught in the blast, momentarily forgetting that the others were there. "Great! Now everyone, attack once more!" TK called.

"_Horn Buster_!"

"_Spiking Strike_!"

"_Vulcan's Hammer_!"

"_Vicious Vine_!"

"_Bunny Blast_!"

"_Blazing Ice_"

"_Gate of Destiny_."

Puppetmon looked up right before the attacks hit him. There was a loud explosion and everyone covered their eyes from the glare. The smoke was thick and hot. Izzy finally lowered his arms and squinted through the thick smoke. It slowly started to clear until they were finally able to see.

"Aaaaaah!" Puppetmon screamed as flame licked at his body. "Aaaaaaaaah! You're going to pay for this!" He vowed before turning and running off as fast as he could.

"After him!" Willis called.

"There's no use in giving chase," Izzy told him. "He could easily lead us to his house and use his land against us. It's best for him to come to us."

Willis bit his lip and nodded, then knelt and affectionately rubbed his Digimon's heads in congratulations. He then stood and slid off of MegaKabuterimon's back. "Are you ok, Ken?" He asked as Ken hit the ground.

Ken gave Willis a look of confusion and touched his forehead. He brought his hand down and saw blood on it. "It's a scratch, I'm fine," Ken said with a dismissive hand wave. "We should get back before Puppetmon decides to come back."

The Digimon reverted back to their Rookie-level forms and they walked quickly to get back to the house. They all raced into the house and went to the basement as if they were waiting for a tornado to strike them. Izzy started pacing before everyone sat down, a hand on his chin. He finally let out a little sigh and looked at Willis and Crystal before speaking. "After the event that just occurred I think that it would be best if someone went with you if, for any reason, you need to leave this place."

"We're getting babysitters?" Crystal asked, lifting her eyebrows in surprise. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Completely, I'm afraid," Izzy replied. "We can't risk you two being out and getting attacked again. How would you have defended yourself if your Digimon can't even Digivolve?"

"We would've found a way," Crystal grumbled.

Willis, however, understood the reason behind Izzy's proposal. "Izzy has a point," he told her. "Our Digimon would be able to slow him down but a single attack would, erm…" His voice trailed off and he hoped that she knew what he was referring to. "And anyway, it's only until we find our DigiEggs and it's not like they're babysitters. They're just making sure nothing happens, like walking in the woods with a group." She made a scoffing sound and crossed her arms over her chest but otherwise didn't say anything. "TK, Puppetmon was asking for you specifically. Why does he have some sort of vendetta against you."

TK looked up at Patamon who was sitting on his head and he sighed a bit. "A while ago, while we were here, we learned from Gennai, our friend, that there were four Dark Masters controlling the Digital World: Puppetmon, Machinedramon, MetalSedramon, and Peidmon. Puppetmon, as you now know, liked to play games with the Digimon he was going to destroy." He paused and Mimi put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a kind smile. He visibly relaxed under her touch and continued with his story. "He thought it was fun to scare them and chase them until he could destroy them. I was younger then and he tried to scare me by making me play Hide and Seek with him. I agreed so he wouldn't hurt my brother or our friends. Patamon and I ended up tricking him and escaping. I guess he's still mad that I didn't make it easy for him to destroy us."

"He's that vicious because you didn't want to play a game?" Ken commented, rubbing his chin.

"Trust me, Puppetmon makes the rest of the Dark Masters seem like big kids," TK told him. "The problem now is they know how to deal with us—"

"So we're going to have to come up with a different plan to take them down," Izzy finished for him.

"It shouldn't be that hard," Ken said quietly. "If you've done it before, I mean. We can do it again." Wormmon nodded in agreement.

"Ken's right. As long as we're together we can do anything," Tentomon said as he hovered in the air. "And I'm sure Izzy will find a way

"No pressure," Izzy directed towards his partner. "Ok, I guess now we should think about getting something to eat for dinner."

"I can make dinner," Mimi said happily as she jumped to her feet. TK, Joe, and Izzy all made noises and held their stomachs. Mimi put her hand on her hip and used the other to wag her finger. "Come now, boys, my cooking has gotten better! You'll see, you'll love it."

"I'll help," Crystal offered, getting to her feet. Icemon jumped up and landed on her shoulder. Willis silently followed the two girls upstairs; Terriermon and Lopmon were sitting on his shoulders, holding onto him by wrapping an ear around his neck. Once they reached the top of the stairs Willis lightly grabbed the back of her shirt, stopping her.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked quietly.

"I'll be there in a second," Crystal told Mimi. She nodded and gave them a knowing smile before disappearing into the kitchen with Palmon. She turned to Willis and looked at him with raised eyebrows, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"I'm sorry," Willis started, looking her dead in the eye. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you and sorry for yelling at you over nothing. I'm just…frustrated that these two can't Digivolve…" He scratched Lopmon's and Terriermon's ears and they made a strange, purr-like noise. Icemon gave them a look and the three jumped into the air and flew out of the room. Willis continued. "I took my frustration out on you and it wasn't fair. I guess…you just know how to push my buttons." He let out a little laugh despite the situation not being that funny. He was surprised that he didn't see an argument coming. That's what their friendship was based on, being fine one minute, arguing the next, and being stronger the next. That's the only reason they've been able to deal with each other's opposing personalities but it also brought out the best in the other. "We've had worse fights before and we've always gotten through it. I don't want something so stupid to get in the way of our goal of saving the Digital World and I don't want it to be the cause of us potentially failing in finding a way to help them evolve." Crystal continued to stay silent. "C'mon, Chrissie, say something…" he urged.

"Don't call me Chrissie, you know I hate that," she finally mumbled, rolling her eyes at her most hated childhood nickname.

"It got you to talk to me," he pointed out with a triumphant grin. One she wanted to wipe off of his face. It was a grin she saw one too many times in her life and, like now, it was getting on her nerves despite him not doing was the amount of cockiness behind it that got to her.

"Whatever," she muttered, looking away from him. Icemon tapped her on the shoulder with his tail and she let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry too, for shoving the whole Diabormon thing in your face again. I know you're still hurting from it and it wasn't fair." She let out a long breath as if the apology was taking a lot of energy out of her. "We got through that together, we can get through this together too. I promise I won't bring it up again." She paused and then added in a warning tone, "Unless you say and/or do something that will _severely_ piss me off which you will do sooner or later." She jabbed him in the shoulder as a sort of emphasis to her words.

"So you won't bring it up and I'll try not to jump down your throat when I'm frustrated. Deal?"

"Deal…Blondie." She gave him a smile and he matched it with a bright one of his own before the two hugged. Willis squeezed her tight as if silently telling her that everything would be O.K. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he did the same to her. She rested her head on his shoulder right by his neck and he rested his chin on the top of her head. She felt so at peace that she closed her eyes and stood there with him inhaling the faint scent of his cologne. She could hear the soft murmur of his heartbeat and she tightened her arms around him and he responded by doing the same.

"Ah-_hem_!" The two jumped and backed away from each other to look at Mimi who was grinning from the doorway. "I still need help with dinner," she announced.

"Ooh! I totally forgot!" Crystal snapped her fingers as Mimi giggled. "Sorry, I'm coming." She quickly followed Mimi to the kitchen, passing by the three Rookie Digimon that were taking turns sliding across the surface of the dining room table that Icemon had frozen. "Ice, c'mere," Crystal ordered, holding out her arms. Icemon's ears drooped and he cast a sad look to Terriermon and Lopmon before flying into Crystal's arms.

He let out an inaudible sigh and curled into her arms, allowing her to take him into the kitchen. He loved her, he really did. She was his partner, not only that but his best friend. He just wondered when it would be that she would finally trust him.

* * *

**Whew, it's been a long time hasn't it? Instead of apologizing for the large span of time between updates I'll let this chapter speak for itself. To my readers, thank you so much for taking the time to read the story. And to my loyal readers, tahnk you for sticking around even between that long span of time. I hope you enjoy the ride.**

**~Crystal**

**P.S. My profile name change doesn't mean that the Crystal in the story is a self-insert. The Crystal in my profile name is short for Crystalized and the Manning came from the last name of one of my favorite characters in a Canadian teen-drama TV show. Just clearing that up. Thanks!  
**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

_"Why're we even helping him? He's the one that caused all of this," Tai said darkly. "He's the one who created the Digimon in the first place. Why should we suffer at the hands of his mistake?" The others agreed with him with shouts of approval or nods. Willis backed away from them, holding onto Terriermon and Lopmon in a grip so tight he was surprised they didn't turn blue._

_"P-please. I can't do this by m-myself," Willis begged, looking at them all. He flinched at the dark looks on their faces. "I…I'm not strong enough…"_

_"He got that part right," Davis spoke up. "His Digimon can't even Digivolve, why are we wasting our time with him? He's a weakling. A loser. Let him suffer by himself. Why were we even dragged into his problem?"_

_"Yeah, let's go guys," TK agreed, turning and leading the group away._

_"No! W-wait! I can't do it, guys! _Please_!" Willis's cries fell on deaf ears as the group walked off, melting into the darkness. The only one that hadn't left was Crystal and he felt a sense of relief wash over him. "Thanks, Chrissie. Thanks for not leaving me. I just…I just need some help."_

_She slowly shook her head and a sad look came to her eyes although her face remained neutral. "Willis, you're not strong enough. I don't want to give up on your but…" her voice trailed off._

_"So don't!" Willis's voice cut sharply through the silent darkness. "We can beat them together."_

_She shook her head again. "I can't do it anymore, Will. If you don't have enough strength I can't help. I've helped you through many things before but I can't help you through this. Not anymore. I'm sorry."_

_"Crys, no! I need you." Willis stared in shock as the last of his friends melted into the darkness as well, and he was all alone. He could feel Terriermon and Lopmon trembling in his arms, as if they sensed something was coming. Something he was grabbed at his collar and Terriermon and Lopmon were ripped out of his hands. "No! Terriermon! Lopmon!"_

_Laughter swirled around him like a hurricane as Terriermon and Lopmon were held against a trees of a tree line that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "You can't save them, Willis," Diaboromon's raspy voice filled his head followed by his laugh. "You don't deserve having partners," Diaboromon spat out the word. "You treat Terriermon like your _pet _and you _still_ eye Lopmon with disdain. It's not fair to them to have to deal with incompetence. I'll put them out of your misery for you."_

_Diabormon's laughter spun around Willis's head, causing it to start aching. "No! No! Terriermon! _Terriermon_!" Willis yelled, trying to wrestle out of the grasp that held him down. Terriermon looked at him with large, sad eyes. The next second one of Diabormon's claws appeared in front of Terriermon. Willis's heart cracked when he heard Terriermon's scream of pain before he burst into data before his eyes. Another crack formed in his heart when Lopmon received the same fate. Tears fell freely down Willis's face as he was dropped and left to drown in the darkness…_

* * *

Willis took in a deep breath and opened his eyes, only to be met with darkness. He panicked for a split second before remembered where he was. Taking another deep breath to calm his racing heart he sat up and turned on the lamp by his bed. It illuminated his side of the room, which he shared with Izzy, Ken, TK, and Joe. He looked down and let out a little sigh of relief when he saw Lopmon and Terriermon sleeping peacefully next to him.

His nightmares didn't scare him much anymore. He's had the same recurring nightmare ever since he met up with the DigiDesitned again after moving to Japan. He tired many times to decipher it himself but nothing came out of it and he didn't want to worry any of the others so he didn't say anything about it. It hasn't happened so there was no need to raise their guard tenfold for nothing.

He pushed back his covers and quickly pressed his feet to the floor. He waited to see if the others woke up but they were snoring loudly, particularly Patamon. Who knew such a loud noise could come from such a small Digimon?

He quietly got out of bed and left the room. A little bit of reading would help him get back to sleep in no time. He had a foot on the top of the stairs when he noticed a glowing light coming from a closed door. He pushed it open and saw Izzy hunched over his computer screen, his face close to the glowing computer.

"You're going to hurt your eyes," Willis commented, turning on the light. Izzy jumped, looked at the ceiling, and then looked over at Willis while letting out a sigh of relief. Willis cracked a smile. "Hiding from someone?"

"No, it's not that," Izzy mumbled. "It's just…Mimi keeps checking on me and making sure I get some rest but I keep telling her that I can't stop until I figure this out."

Willis lifted his eyebrows at the comment. "Figure what out? Maybe I can help." He stepped further into the room as Izzy nodded and turned his computer around. All he saw were a bunch of numbers and weird letters. "What exactly am I looking at?"

"DigiCode," Izzy replied. "I'm just trying to figure out how our Digimon were able to evolve to the Ultimate level."

"I thought all Digimon could," Willis said slowly.

"They can, but ours needed help with a Crest," Izzy replied. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. "Long story short, we gave up the power to let our Digimon evolve to the Ultimate level to protect the Digi World. Then Azulongmon let us use his DigiCore to temporarily let them evolve as we went around the world to stop the Digimon from attacking innocent by standards."

"I remember that," Willis said with a nod. "I helped out Mimi and Michael."

"After that we didn't think they'd be able to get to that level again but today they did. It doesn't make sense," Izzy mumbled, leaning forward again. He started mumbling something under his breath, seemingly all ready forgetting that Willis was there.

Willis leaned forward and took a look at the shapes and swirls that were on the computer, trying to see if he could figure out what it was saying but nothing came to mind. He leaned back in his chair and recounted the few stories that Izzy had told him through e-mails they sent back and forth. He remembered Izzy saying something about Azulongmon's DigiCores before but back then he had to take care of a very mischievous is Terriermon and he couldn't put much thought into it before. He leaned back in his seat and replayed every piece of information he knew about the Crests and Azulongmon's power in his head. But a different thought stopped him before he even got to a conclusion.

"Wait," Willis said slowly. "I just got a theory."

"Let's hear it," Izzy replied, pushing himself away from the computer and holding his hands over his eyes.

"Kari's, TK's, Crystal's, and my Digimon are the only ones that can't digivolve," Willis said slowly. "What if Diaboromon is the one stopping them from being able to digivolve?"

Izzy lowered his hands and looked at Willis. His lips parted slightly but no sound came out. Willis could practically see the gears whirring in his friend's head. "Why would he only stop you four from digivolving and not the rest of us?"

"Simple: united we stand and divided we fall," Willis replied. "He knows how the group works and he knows how to dismantle it, He's smart. I guess created him a little _too_ well." It all flashed back to his mind. The day that he had gotten Terriermon and Lopmon, well they were Gummymon and Kokomon at the time. Aside from Crystal, they were his only friends. They always wanted to play with him and he loved the feeling of being wanted. He loved it so much he got _that_ idea to create new ones. He knew he could do it, being by himself most of the time gave him enough time to increase his curiosity and it was enough time for him to be able to get a small understanding of Digimon to create his egg in the first place. He knew, essentially, that Digimon were made of data and he loved playing around with computers so it didn't seem to hard for him.

The consequences of his actions proved to be the hardest part. Having to watch Kokomon get dragged away from him and then over time evolve into the monster infected by a virus. Every time Kokomon went on a rampage because of a virus he felt a like a little part of him died inside. He could only imagine the pain that his friend suffered at the hands of the virus and the idea that it was all _his_ fault made him constantly question why he was chosen.

Willis shut his eyes at the sudden ice cold feeling that dripped down his spine. It felt like someone had poured ice cold water down his shirt. He opened his eyes and frowned when his vision blurred. He brought his arms up to rub his eyes but the blurriness didn't do away.

That's when he heard it. The strange sound of lapping water. He groaned, thinking that Terriermon had something to do with it. Then he looked down and noticed that water had risen up to mid-calf. Looking around he noticed that he was alone, surrounded by water still sitting in his chair. His heart jumped up to his throat at the suppressing feeling of darkness surrounding him. He looked around for any sort of escape but all he saw was endless water surrounding him.

"Help!" He called, his voice echoing in the vast space. "Someone help me! Izzy? Chrissie? Anyone?"

Laughter swirled around him, that same laughter that haunted his dreams.

And then in the next second he heard hushed voices.

"The group is split in two," a very deep and raspy voice said as Machinedramon slid into view. "We could easily go in and destroy them—"

"Me! Me! Me!" Puppetmon cried out as he jumped up and down, waving his hammer. "That TK tricked me; he needs to learn the meaning of payback!"

"Oh, was that what you called attack them? It's funny, it looked like you were _losing_ to me," Piedmon said with a wave of his hand.

"I'll get him! He…he just took me by surprise, that's all!"

"Hey, hey, hey! If anyone's going to take out the DigiBrats it's going to be me!" MetalSeadramon hissed, his tail tapping against the stone ground as if waiting to strike someone with it.

"No!" Willis flinched. Did that cold voice come out of _his_ mouth? He didn't want to believe it did but he knew it. He knew that cold and calculated voice anywhere. "If anyone is going to get rid of them, it will be _me_! You're merely my pawns and I can destroy you and your world in a matter of _seconds_." No one moved as the words settled in the thick air. "It's going to take more time than I expected. They've gotten smart and made getting in harder. What I want you to do, MetalSeadramon, is attack the group with the girl who holds Light. She's the one that has dealt with the Darkness before and if you get _her_ out of the way I can get _him_ out of the way!"

"What about the others?" Puppetmon grumbled, his fingers twitching on his hammer. "Hmmm? What about TK and the others?"

"Leave them be for now. I want you to go with MetalSeadramon."

"Ugggh! Why do I have to do with that overgrow sea worm?" Puppetmon mumbled.

"_Silence_!" Willis could feel the white hot anger rising inside of him at the sudden outburst. "You will do as I say. The girl's starting to piece everything together and I can't risk that."

Willis closed his eyes as darkness suddenly washed everything else away. He took a deep, gasping breath and opened his eyes again. He was staring at the ceiling now. Well, part of it because Joe, Mimi, and Izzy were all blocking his vision and looking down at him.

"Thank goodness," Mimi whispered as Izzy and Joe helped Willis sit up.

"Ugh, what's going on?" Willis mumbled, holding his aching head.

"You were in some sort of trace and then fell to the floor. You hit your head pretty hard," Izzy replied.

"I bet," Willis mumbled, wincing at the spike of pain.

"Oh, you poor sweetie," Mimi cooed, gently rubbing the spot on his forehead. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Better?"

"Much better," Willis said with a happy sigh.

"Yes, well, how powerful Mimi's concern can be…" Joe said as he glanced sideways at her and she gave him a peaceful smile, "I need to make sure nothing's going on so…" He tilted Willis's head back and shined a light in his eyes. "He's fine," Joe decided, finally lowering his flashlight.

"I think I'm blind," Willis muttered, blinking rapidly.

"Willis, what happened?" Izzy asked.

"I don't…" he shook his head. "I remember being surrounded by water. I tried calling out but no one heard me. Then I was in this…room made of stone and MetalSeadramon and the others were there, arguing about what to do. And then, Diabromon told them his orders and then I woke up here." Then he gasped. "They're going to attack the others. DIaboromon, he's sending MetalSeadramon and Puppetmon to attack the others and to grab Kari."

"Are you sure?" Mimi asked, her eyes turning hard.

Willis nodded. "Positive, I heard every word. They're at the beach ."

"OK. Meems wake up the others. We're going to have to leave now if we want to find them before the DarkMasters do," Izzy ordered, taking charge. Mimi nodded and rushed out of the room. A couple of seconds later they could hear Crystal threatening to kill her for waking her up. Willis chuckled slightly despite the situation they've found themselves in. "Joe, gather as much food as we can carry. We don't know how far they are and we're going to need as much energy as possible." Joe nodded and left the room. Izzy pulled Willis to his feet and went to his laptop.

"What're you doing?" Willis asked.

"Telling them to be on their guard and that we're on our way," Izzy replied, typing rapidly. He hit enter and closed his PiBook, turning to see Willis have a far away look in his eye. "What is it?" Izzy asked.

"Nothing," Willis replied, shaking his head. In the other rooms they could hear their friends moving around and gathering up their things. "It's just…I saw everything…as if I were Diaboromon. Like…I was in his _head_."

Izzy seemed stumped by Willis's words and it actually took him a few minutes to regain composure. "Don't…don't mention that to anyone else, ok?" Izzy said in a dark tone, his voice hardening.

Willis nodded rapidly. He didn't want another reason for them to feel weird around him.

* * *

**Ah, now we're getting to the good part of the story. After 30 (well, 29) chapters I get you guys there, Lol.**

**Here's a picture of Willis and Crystal for the story (take out the spaces) **http: / / dark-tundra-chaos. deviantart. com /#/ d37sao1


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Kari sighed.

"What's wrong?" Black Gatomon asked.

Kari shook her head. "I just…" Her words died on her tongue. She just what? She just wanted to go home? She just wished everything was a dream? She just wished she hadn't gotten involved with Digimon in the first place? She shook that thought out as soon as it entered her mind. She couldn't imagine her life without Digimon. She couldn't imagine the years _before_ she met her Digimon friends.

They weren't just partners, they were family. They helped bridge two worlds together for the sake of peace and harmony. She wouldn't wish it away no matter how tough things got. A piece of her felt missing whenever she was separated from the Digimon for a few hours during school. Saying that she was attached to them was an understatement.

"I wish I knew what to do," Kari finally replied. "I wish I knew a way to stop all of the darkness and evil from taking over the DigitalWorld."

"Everything would be too easy if we always had answers," Black Gatomon replied. "We should be getting back before Tai starts to worry."

Kari made a disapproving sound but walked back in the way they came. The closer they got back to their group the less cold she felt. The feeling she got whenever darkness was around slowly faded away the longer they walked. She found herself breathing easier than before and the constricting feeling eased up on her lungs.

Finally she stepped over Davis, Yolei, and Cody who were still sleeping soundly. Davis and DemiVeemon were snoring so loud she was surprised that they didn't wake themselves up. Kari covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the two.

It was strange, how alike Digimon and their partners were. Davis and Veemon were one and the same. Their hunger for adventure was the same, their styles of leadership were the same: act first, think later. Despite getting into a couple of jams here and there the two had very big hearts and were great members of the team.

Hawkmon and Yolei were very different, Kari mused as she crawled down into her sleeping bag. Yolei was very outspoken and could be judgmental. Hawkmon, on the other hand, gave people chances and was usually quiet, ready to give sage advice when needed. The pair were so different but worked together nicely.

Cody and Armadillomon were also different but they worked well together. Armadillomon loved to have fun and had a go-with-the-flow type of mentality while Cody's actions were shaped around rules and lessons he learned with his family's guidance.

Kari laid her head down under her arm and looked out at the front of the cave where Tai and his friends were still sitting and talking with each other. As if knowing that Kari was looking at him, Tai turned around and gave her a small smile. Kari smiled in return and then rolled onto her other side. It was amazing how safe she felt just by knowing that Tai was there with her.

Just as Kari's eyes closed the ground beneath her started to tremble. The trembling turned to shaking. She started bouncing up and down on the hard ground as a loud rumbling sound filled her ears. Davis and the others jerked awake while small streams of sand fell from up above them.

"Guys, get out of there!" Matt yelled from the entrance.

"Kari, come on," Davis said has he held his hand out to her. He used his other arm to shield his face as rocks started to fall from above. Kari grabbed his hand and followed him, Yolei, and Cody out of the cave.

"Hohoho, I finally found you, DIgiBrats!" Scorpiomon laughed, burrowing up from a hole in the ground, successfully cutting Davis and Kari off from the others.

"Oh no!" Kari gasped.

"Don't worry about this overgrown crustacean, Kari," Davis told her. "DemiVeemon, digivolve," Davis ordered, looking down at his small partner. DemiVeemon digivolved into Veemon and then digivolved to ExVeemon. ExVeemon's large body almost touched the ceiling of the cave. Davis held his arm out to block Kari and took a couple of steps back. "Kari, do you trust me?" He asked without looking at her.

Kari gripped the sleeve of his shirt. "Yes," she replied.

"Good, because this is going to sound crazy," Davis replied. "ExVeemon, you need to block the entrance, now!"

"What?" Kari shrieked. "Davis—"

"I would rather the others be safe instead of putting them in harm's way," Davis told her firmly. "You told me you'd trust me, Kari. Just trust me, please."

"O-ok. I trust you, Davis," Kari whispered. She felt Gatomon by her side and could practically feel the adrenaline running through the feline's body. She didn't want to use Gatomon just yet, not until Davis asked her for help. She had to start trusting Davis some time, now was as good a time as any.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Kari clasped her hands over her ears at the loud growl that ExVeemon emitted deep within his chest. Davis grasped her arm and pulled her away from the fight as ExVeemon charged at Scorpiomon. Kari swore she could hear Tai calling out her name. She wanted to stop and go back, get Gatomon to fight him and finish him off so she could get to Tai, but she knew, deep in her bones, that she couldn't.

"Kari, come on," Davis said, grabbing her hand and started to pull her.

"But what about ExVeemon?" She asked.

"He'll catch up, don't worry."

Davis pulled her harder and got her moving from the quickly fading light and to the back of the cave. Every instinct inside of Kari told her to stop running, to stay away from the darkness but Davis kept pulling her and Gatomon still ran by her heels. Kari let out a little sigh. With Gatomon with her she knew she'd be safe but she didn't want to know what was in the darkness.

Davis flinched every time he heard ExVeemon let out a roar of pain but he couldn't get back. He had to protect Kari at all costs. It wasn't just because she was special to him but it was because she was _special_. He's always heard the word used to describe her and he never understood it until the Dark Ocean fiasco. That day, he felt like he had lost her. He would've searched the entire Digital World for her if he could and he almost did if Cody and Yolei didn't stop him.

"How'd they find us?" Kari gasped while pushing herself to run faster.

"Don't know but we can't stop to figure it out," Davis replied.

"But Davis, how far can we run? This cave has to stop eventually," Kari yelled. Her voice echoed in the vast space of the cave. The darkness near the back was so thick she kept stumbling over something. She didn't pause to think what it could be that they were tripping over. The darkness was too thick; she couldn't even see a few feet in front of her face. If she weren't holding onto Davis's hand she wouldn't be sure that he was with her anymore.

_There has to be some way we can see through the darkness,_ Kari thought as her pulse raced. _There has to be some way. The only thing the Darkness is doing is hiding us from Scorpiomon._

Kari suddenly stopped moving altogether when it hit her. _The Darkness! We can use it against Scorpiomon!_ Kari heard Davis's footsteps stop moving a few feet away. The sound of him scrambling around reached her ears.

"Kari—why'd you stop? We have to keep going!" Davis said. The tone in his voice sounded concerned and a little scared.

"Kari?" Gatomon's voice was laced with worry as well.

"Don't you guys see?" Kari asked. "The Darkness, we can't just run away from it. We can use it. We can use the Darkness. It can help us."

"Oh no, she's losing it again." Gatomon sighed.

"No, I'm not," Kari said firmly, beginning to lose her patience. She paused and listened to ExVeemo and Scorpimon fighting. It was hard to tell who was winning but she was sure that ExVeemon wouldn't be able to last much longer if he didn't have help. "Listen, all this time…we've been running away from the Darkness—_I've_ been running away from the Darkness."

"With good reason," Davis pointed out.

"We can use it, to help," Kari tried to explain. "What I mean is…there's always darkness. It's the opposite of Light, it will always be around. Why not use it instead of running away from it? Why not use the darkness as a leg up against Scorpiomon? We can lure him here and let him have it."

"How if we can't see anything?" Davis asked. His tone suggested that he could've been thinking that Kari was crazy, which rubbed her the wrong way.

"Gatomon can see," Kari replied. "Cats can see in the dark better than we can. Gatomon, can you see anything back there?"

Kari bit her lip, realizing she should've been specific when she used the word "there" to refer to the front of the cave. She didn't expect Gatomon to know that but, their minds seemed to be so in sync that Gatomon knew what Kari had been referring to. Kari could hear Gatomon's breathing get further and further away before it stopped all together.

"Yes, I can see them," Gatomon replied. Her voice was distant but not too distant. "It looks like ExVeemon's really going to need our help. Kari, whatever idea you have I hope it works. For his sake and ours."

Kari sighed. She didn't need the added pressure that Gatomon was giving her. She was taking a shot, she knew, but it had to be done. Otherwise…she shook her head. She didn't even want to think about what would happen. "Okay, call him back here. I'm sure Scorpiomon will try and follow."

"And then what?" Davis asked. Kari didn't reply. They just had to have faith in them. Davis seemed to understand for he said, "Got it," and then fell silent. Kari was thankful that he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He was a casualty for foot-in-mouth syndrome; he couldn't control it, just like she knew she wouldn't be able to control her annoyance with him at the point in time had he said something…Davis-like.

"ExVeemon, come this way," Gatomon yelled. "Follow the sound of my voice. Come on!"

"Don't think you can get away from me! I have more legs!" Scorpiomon bellowed.

Kari's heart fell. Scorpiomon's voice was filled with malice, something that she's never heard in the henchman before. He had been a Digimon that was knocked around by MetalSeadramon and always seemed to be happy despite what he was told to do but now…he really had it out for them. A weight formed in the pit of Kari's stomach.

He really wanted them _dead._

"Why're you running away?" Scorpiomon asked, his voice getting louder the closer he got. "Are you Digibrats afraid of the dark?" he taunted.

"No," Kari whispered. "I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm not afraid of the Darkness. Not anymore." She was speaking more to herself than to Scorpiomon. Kari clenched her gloved hands into fists and, suddenly, she felt a surge of energy she's never felt before. It was familiar yet different at the exact same time. "I'm not going to run from the Darkness anymore, for it's a part of me." _It took me a while to figure that out but I know it now. The Light is a part of me just as much as the Darkness is a part of me. I won't be afraid!_

All of a sudden the Darkness that surrounded them changed to a bright pink glow. Kari had to hold her arms in front of her face to keep the light from hurting her eyes. Slowly she lowered them and watched, in awe, as the bright pink light slowly dimmed until it became a deep pink color, almost like the color of blood. It flooded the entire cave that they were stuck in.

"Huh, wha? What's going on here? I can't see!" Scorpiomon called out while lifting up his pincer-like forearms to block his eyes from being hurt.

"Gatomon, do you feel that?" Kari called out.

"I sure do," Gatomon replied, her voice light and filled with awe.

"I think…I think it's the Darkness."

"I do too."

"But I'm not scared of it."

"Neither am I!"

Kari let out a gasp as the energy that flowed inside her got stronger. The light seemed to form into a ball before it floated towards her. Kari hesitantly reached out and grasped the object. It was warm in her hands. As soon as her fingers touched it the light went away. Kari felt the digiegg, it felt like a ball sitting ontop of a tree and seemed to pulse in her hands.

"Are you ready Gatomon?" She called out.

"Ready," Gatomon replied.

Kari took a deep breath and said quietly yet firmly, "Digiarmor Energize!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to…Mutnymon!"

All at once the darkness went away and the cave was, once again, filled with light, as if a lightswitch had been turned on. Kari glanced at Davis to make sure he was okay. She scanned him from head to toe. Besides a few bruises and dirt smudges he looked alright. He had the same fire in his eyes as usual. Kari then looked over to where Gatomon used to stand and gasped.

Standing in her place was a very elegant looking creature that resembled Nefertimon in the head but the rest of the body was different. The hair was now a light black and the gloves were purple instead of green. Her tail was still tipped with purple. The armor that covered her front flanks and her chest were now gold instead of silver.

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Davis uttered. "Kari…that's the Digiegg of Darkness! You've found it!"

Kari nodded silently. As soon as she heard about it she knew that the digiegg would be hers, no matter how much she didn't want it. It belonged to her. Like how everyone has a good and a bad side, there's always a dark and light side. Kari already had the Light, she just needed the Darkness and now she had it.

"C'mon Mutnymon, we can take him!" ExVeemon said. "There's two of us and one of him."

"Be careful, Scorpiomon is at the ultimate level," Davis advised.

"This will be easy," Mutnymon replied in a smooth and slightly harsh tone. "_Cartouche_."

A slab of stone, much like Nefertimon's Rosetta Stone attack, came out of her back and was sent flying at Scorpiomon. Scorpiomon hunched towards his ground and stuck at the rock with the sharp barb on its tail, causing it to break and crack down the middle. Mutnymon, however, didn't let up on her attack, sending slab after slab at him.

"_Vee Laser!_"

ExVeemon's shot towards Scorpimon. Coupled with Mutnymon's attack a small explosion was created at the impact point.

"Yes! Great shot!" Davis cheered. He quickly faltered when Scorpiomon seemed to shake off the attack but was visibly damaged as well. "Aww, man!"

"C'mon guys, try harder!" Kari ordered, clenching her hands into fists. "We have to beat him!"

"_Scorpion Storm_!" Scorpiomon reared back, as far as the cave would allow, and hurled bullets of sand from the ventricles on its underside. Exveemon and Muntymon shielded themselves from the sand only to be knocked over by a powerful swipe from Scorpiomon's tail.

"Come on!" Kari yelled.

"Get up, Exveemon!" Davis called.

"I…I can't see," ExVeemon uttered, rubbing at his eyes to get the sand out.

"Mutnymon," Kari called out. She hated seeing her friend defenseless but there wasn't much she could do. She held onto the oddly shaped digiegg and squeezed her eyes shut.

_We have to do something or Scorpimon will destroy them! Tai, I need your help! Tai!_

"_Fire Wall_!"

Davis grabbed onto Kari's arm and pulled he against the wall. She flattened herself against it before a wall of flames shot past her. She closed her eyes at the heat and the brightness of the flames that surged past her. She opened her eyes when she heard Scorpiomon screaming in pain. ExVeemon and Mutnymon managed to get to their feet and Kari turned to see Tai running towards them from the back of the cave.

"Tai!" Kari cried out before running to him and throwing herself into his arms. "Tai, you're safe!"

"How'd you find us?" Davis asked.

"After ExVeemon blocked the entrance Matt and I searched for another way in. We went to what we thought was the back of the cave and the next thing we knew the wall disappeared. I came in to look for you guys and Agumon digivolved to Greymon to help out."

"Where is he?" Davis asked, looking around.

Tai smile sheepishly. "Well, he can't exactly fit," he replied while scratching behind his ear.

"Oh great. We get a big Digimon on our side and he can't fit into a cave," Davis cried out, throwing his arms into the air.

"As long as it's three against—_whoa_! Is that…Gatomon?" Tai asked, looking over at the new Digimon in front of him.

"Can we talk about it later?" Kari asked as Scorpiomon started to get back on the attack.

"_Vee Laser_!"

"_Cartouche!"_

The attacks flew towards Scorpiomon again. He let out a little shriek and burrowed into the ground.

"After him!" Davis started.

"Davis, no," Tai said while grabbing his collar to stop him from moving. "Leave it alone!"

"But he's getting away!"

"It's best to let him go," Kari told him. "He'll find us later. By then we'll have a chance to be stronger and we might run into the others again. This won't be the last we see him—_oh_." Kari looked down as the digiegg in her hands formed into a beam of light and moved into her D-Terminal which sat in the pocket of her shorts.

"What was that?" Tai asked.

Kari sighed. "I'll explain later. Let's get out of here before Scorpiomon comes back." With a few more beams of light ExVeemon and Muntymon de-digivolved back to Veemon and Gatomon. Veemon fell onto his behind and let out a sigh.

"Could we get something to eat first?" He asked while rubbing his stomach.

Ignoring him, Gatomon walked over to Kari who fell to her knees and gave her friend a hug. "Are you okay?" Kari asked her.

"I'm fine," Gatomon replied. She looked down at her paws before looking up at Kari. "I think finding this Digiegg was a blessing in disguise," she said.

Kari gave a half smile. "I hope so."

* * *

_There is no such Digimon as Muntymon, I made it up based on the idea that Nefertiti had a sister named Mutnedjmet. Well, we know that Kari has both the digieggs of Darkness and Light, I wonder how that will play out for the others. To those of you who are still reading thanks for being patient and I apprecaite your support. Please read and review._

_ ~C.M._


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Willis moved as quickly as he could, changing out of his pajamas and into his clothes. He took one more look in his backpack to make sure he had everything and fumbled in the dark to get a hold of his Digimon. He gently pressed down on the bed until he felt a warm ear. That one had to be Lopmon. He carefully picked up the pink and brown Digimon and reached for his twin, pinching something on accident.

"_Hey_! What's the big idea?" Terriermon yelled into the air irritably. Willis quickly clamped his hand over Terriermon's mouth as Lopmon squirmed in his arms. Willis shushed him despite the fact that the others in the room were awake as well and were moving around as fast as they could to get their things together.

A few hours before the house was filled with the sound of scraping dishes, Terriermon's victory chants of his consecutive wins at the card game he was playing, and the clacking keys on Izzy's keyboard, now it was too quiet for Willis's comfort level. But they had to be quiet if they didn't want to alert any spies that they were on the move.

"What's going on?" Terriermon demanded once Willis finally let go of his mouth.

Willis didn't respond. Instead he went to check on the girls to make sure they were almost done packing and were ready to get out of there. He felt antsy, a little too antsy for his own sanity. He hated not being able to know what Diaboromon was planning. _Should I…?_ He hesitated outside of the door. He usually barged right into Crystal's room back in the US (one of his only flaws, to Crystal's annoyance) and she didn't mind, she actually expected it on most occasions. But she wasn't the only one in the room now.

Taking a breath, he gripped the knob and twisted it. He gave it a slight push and then jumped at the loud creak that emitted from the door. Grumbling, he shoved the door open wider so the creak wouldn't sound throughout the house. The light was on but no one else seemed to be in the room. That is, until a loud snore emitted from the bed closest to the window. He looked around the room until he spotted Crystal's bed. He crept over to his friend's bed and shook her shoulder. "Crys," he hissed. When she didn't budge, he touched her shoulder and called her a little louder. "Crys."

She rolled over and groaned in irritation, "Nooo."

"Crys, wake up."

"One really important thing to know about me," she croaked out, "is that no sunrise is worth waking me up to see."

He couldn't help but smile. Even while half asleep she would still make fun of one of his favorite things. "No, I'm just telling you that we have to go."

"Write a note," she shot back groggily, placing a pillow over her head.

"Crys." He hated trying to be serious when she clearly wasn't.

"What?"

"This is important, so if you could just pay attention…"

Slowly, she pulled herself up from her comfortable position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she tried to focus on the teen in front of her. "What's up?"

"Good morning, Chrisse," he chirped. She glared at him and he knew from the glare that he should skip straight to why he woke her up. "We have to leave. Now."

Frowning, all she could muster in response was, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated.

"That's all you have to say about this?"

"I figure there must be a good reason to get me up at his ungodly hour." She pushed back her covers and got out of bed. Willis quickly moved out of the room. His heart then fell when he noticed that Terriermon and Lopmon were missing. "Man, I told them to stay here," he muttered, going down the stars as quietly as possible. He easily found the twins in the kitchen, it was hard to miss the bright light coming from the open refrigerator. "What're you doing?" Willis asked. The two Digimon jumped and turned with guilty looks towards their partner.

Terriermon froze with an apple hanging from his mouth. Armfuls of fruit were spilling out his arms as he looked at Willis with wide eyes. As soon as she came down the stairs, Crystal laughed at the sight of the two acting as if they just got caught with their paws in the cookie jar.

"Terriermon, we can't just take this food," Willis sighed as Terriermon dropped the food and pulled the apple out of his mouth.

"Why are we leaving anyway?" Terriermon asked. "I was just starting to get comfortable around here."

"I understand that, buddy, but we can't just sit around and wait for Diaboromon to attack us or for the Dark Masters to attack us. We have to leave now."

"Is something wrong, Blondie?" Crystal asked, finally sounding awake. "You're kind of…jumpy."

"I'm fine," Willis replied and urged Lopmon to jump onto his shoulder. Terriermon followed suit and jumped onto Willis's other shoulder.

"If that's not a walking, talking target I don't know what is," Crystal said dryly. Just then the pounding of footsteps reached their ears and they turned to see the others coming into the kitchen. They stocked up on food and then quickly and quietly slipped out of the house and onto the dark porch. Willis turned his flashlight back on and the bright beam illuminated the dark night. The group stepped off of the porch and started walking in the direction of the forest. Izzy's idea was that it would be a good cover for them.

They walked for about an hour when Terriermon finally spoke up. "Um, where exactly is it that we're going?" He questioned, leaning forward far enough that he was still clinging onto Willis's ears but he could also see his partner's face upside-down.

"Er…" Willis stopped walking. In the silvery light of the moon his face flamed red. He didn't even think that far in his plan. All he knew was that he had to get out and go; get the attention away from the others. They were only after Willis, right? He was the cause of the only problem and surely Diaboromon was just looking to kill him so the others had no way of deprogramming him.

"You have _no_ idea what you're doing, do you?" Crystal asked from behind him. He stiffened at the accusatory tone she had taken. He didn't want to turn and look at her; he could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"Um, there was a little hole in my plan," Willis mumbled.

"A hole called you don't know what you're doing," she laughed. "Wow. Willis Henderson _finally _doesn't have a clue what he's doing and I was actually here to see it. I feel honored."

Willis bristled at her tone. "Do _you_ know what to do?"

"Guys, please don't start fighting," Mimi spoke up, placing a hand on her hip. "We shouldn't be turning on each other."

Crystal chose to ignore her. "Find the others?" Crystal asked with a shrug. "These things have a sort of radar in them, right?"

"The signal's not strong enough," Izzy replied, taking his digivice out of his pocket as if to confirm his words. "Besides, we don't know how far away they are or if it'll pick up their signal as well. It's just a shot in the dark we're taking for now."

"Maybe we should head towards the beach? That way we have the water and land in between us so we can see an attack coming," TK suggested. Patamon was sleeping peacefully on top of his head.

"But that would leave us vulnerable with a lesser chance of escape," Ken pointed out. He looked up at the moon. "I think we've moved enough for one night. The Digimon are already sleeping." He nodded down at Wormmon who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. "Maybe we should rest here for the night and get an early start in the morning."

"We can take turns keeping watch," Joe added, putting Gomamon down on the ground who curled up into a ball and started snoring loudly. Joe chuckled as she set his bag down and stretched his sore muscles. The others followed suit and put their things down, stretching and getting themselves comfortable. The silvery moonlight reached them by stretching through the trees and filling up any gaps that the tree branches had left. A soft breeze caressed their faces as the DigiDesinted went about their business to set up their beds for the night. Crystal was the only one who didn't budge.

"We're staying here?" She asked, looking around the clearing. It was lined with bushes and tree roots. Past the trees within touching distance lay a blanket of darkness that she could hardly look past, even with the help of the full moon. The light couldn't break the darkness that lay past them and it made her shiver. "We're staying…_here_?" She repeated, crossing her arms over her chest to rub at her gooseflesh covered arms. "We're going to sleep on _dirt_?"

"Ah, my sentiments exactly!" Mimi said as she pressed her palms together. "Finally someone who understands." She smiled in excitement and let out a little laugh of glee. "It's not too much to ask for a bath every now and then, right?" Next to her Palmon gave a little giggle. TK smiled and shook his head. Same ol' Mimi. He had to admit she was a joy to have around. He didn't understand her slightly narcissistic and vain ways when he was younger. He even thought that she was weird for it. But now it was something that he actually looked forward to because it made everything, despite the situation, seem normal.

"Should we go find some firewood?" Ken asked, changing the subject.

Izzy shook his head. "It'd be better if we didn't. It could cause too big of a signal for them to come and find us. It'd be better if we were cloaked and didn't bring any attention to ourselves. Tentomon and I will take watch first."

"Gomamon and I will go next," Joe said while using a finger to push his glasses up his nose.

"Wormmon and I can take the next shift," Ken offered.

"I don't think we'll need more than that. We're going to need to get up early to cover more ground," Izzy deduced while rubbing his chin. The rest gave him nods to show that they understood what he was saying before laying down to try and get some sleep.

Willis adjusted his bag to try and make it as comfortable as possible to use as a pillow. It was a little lumpy and the ground was uneven. A few rocks stuck into his back but he kept his mouth shut. He couldn't be choosy about his living situation at the moment. Terriermon and Lopmon snuggled up on either side of him, underneath his arms. They closed their eyes and in a few moments their breathing became steady and they were sound asleep.

Willis shifted slightly to try and get comfortable but no matter how many times he moved it didn't work. If he moved too much Terriermon and Lopmon would wake up, which he didn't want to happen. The needed their rest if they wanted any slim chance of being able to beat the Dark Masters or Diaboromon. Willis, instead, turned his eyes to the moon that was trying to peek its way past the branches that covered the air above them like spider webs.

The Digital World was a strange place to him, one that he still couldn't figure out in its entirety. Izzy and the others have told him countless times how Digimon who were killed or reached a certain age could be reformatted and taken back to the Primary Village where they were reduced back to their DigiEgg state to start their circle of life again. He was also told that some Digimon, the dark ones that are controlled by evil, wouldn't be sent back to the Primary Village if defeated. He didn't have an answer, however, to how the Dark Masters and Diabormon had returned. No one did. Not even Izzy.

After hearing a shuffling sound Willis turned his head to see that Crystal was shifting her back against the large tree. Instead of trying to go to sleep she was wide awake, her eyes moving around the area, pausing every now and then to look at the darkness through spaces in the trees.

"Are you okay?" Willis whispered loud enough for her to hear but soft enough not to wake those that had managed to fall asleep. Aside from those two and Izzy, TK was the only other one awake but he didn't seem to hear Willis. His eyes were fixed on something and a faraway look was in his eyes.

"I'm fine," Crystal replied stiffly, pulling the sleeping figure of Icemon closer to her chest. He shifted in his sleep but let out a deep breath and remained still. She could feel Willis's bright blue eyes practically burning a hole in the side of her head.

"Are you still afraid of the dark?"

Crystal didn't have to look at him to know that he was smiling in the peculiar way which got on her nerves. It was the smile he gave whenever he already knew the answer but wanted to hear it out loud anyway. She shook her head and let out an annoyed breath, "No, I'm not."

Even though she said it so firmly he could still hear a bit of fear in her voice. Willis sighed and rubbed at his suddenly aching temples. She tried so hard to not show weakness in front of him that it usually backfired in her face. Willis could almost feel the nervous energy that was bouncing around her. Her body was tense as if she were ready to jump up and run at any moment. The longer he studied her the more he felt sorry for her.

He was the reason she was there, after all. He was the reason she had been brought into his mess of a life in the first place. Where he was quiet she was outspoken and they balanced each other out well, he knew, but there were times like these he wished that they weren't friends. He hated seeing the pain and suffering she had to go through at the hands of his mistake. He hated seeing how scared she was at the mere idea of losing Icemon just because she felt the need—the obligation—to be there for him and to protect him not only from the evil Digimon but his dark thoughts as well.

But most of all he hated feeling weak in front of her and that's the only feeling that the entire situation has filled him with. His Digimon couldn't evolve to help them and he was basically a sitting duck, a target that Diaboromon would easily take out without a second thought.

"Stop looking at me like that! I'm not scared of the dark!" Crystal repeated, her voice tight. Her eyes trailed up past the trees to the distant shape of a mountain that reached towards the sky, climbing higher than she's ever seen a mountain's peak climb. It even went up past the little cluster of clouds.

"That's Infinity Mountain." TK's voice came in so suddenly that it made Crystal's heart jump in surprise. She brought a hand up to her chest and felt it beating hard against it. She lifted her eyes to see that TK was starting at her before nodding towards the tall peak.

"Infinity Mountain," she repeated. The name sounded strangely odd on her tongue. Like saying it carried a weight to the words.

Willis glanced at TK and noticed him staring at the mountain, that faraway look was in his eyes again. "What's so important about Infinity Mountain?" Willis finally ventured to ask. TK seemed to stiffen at the question. He bit down on his lower lip and let out a shaky breath. "Did I say something wrong?" Willis asked.

"You usually have more tact than this," Crystal commented.

"Oh ha ha."

"You didn't do anything Willis, it's…we have some not-so-fond memories of the mountain, that's all," TK replied. Patamon had crawled onto his stomach as he spoke and curled up into a ball. TK smiled a little and scratched Patamon's head between his large, bat-like ears. TK closed his eyes briefly. Images and broken pieces of sound bounced around in his mind and ears, images and sounds he knew he'd never forget. Especially _his_ voice and how happy _he_ was to see Angemon being deleted right before his young and naïve eyes.

TK let out a little shaky breath and opened his eyes again, hugging Patamon closer to him. He hadn't thought about Devimon for a while. The pace of his life hadn't slowed down enough for him to think of the devil Digimon. Kari wouldn't let him. Whenever she thought that he was starting to revert back into "that state" as she put it she put a lot of effort into stopping him from being swallowed up by the pain and the grief from that day.

He didn't know it was possible to miss someone as much as he missed Kari at the moment. He missed her short hair—which he didn't think would work on anyone else but her—her ruby red eyes, her smile, her laugh, everything. He hoped to God that she was safe and maybe, just maybe, missed him as much as he missed her.

"Hey TK, how do you think the Dark Masters and Diaboromon came back?" Willis asked while loosely wrapping his arms around his knees which he had brought to his chest. "Mimi had told me that the Oikawa guy had sacrificed himself to protect the Digital world but, somehow, the Digimon were resurrected."

TK shrugged. "It's hard to say. I've been dealing with the Digital World since I was eight and I still don't understand everything that happens around here." He pulled his hat off of his head and scratched at his blond hair. "I don't think we'll ever fully understand it, really. No matter how hard we try. It'll always be a mystery to us." He paused and added with a small laugh, "Though I'm sure I wouldn't want to take the time to understand this place. I think my head would explode." He replaced his hat on his head. "I have to say you're kind of lucky, Willis. You and Crystal."

"Lucky? Us? You can't be serious," Crystal said with a lift of her eyebrow.

TK shrugged again. "You two haven't had to deal with the Digital World until now, despite having Digimon for a while, a lot longer than the rest of us. You didn't have to deal with growing up extremely fast and have responsibility shoved at you before you can even fully understand what's going on."

"Yes, but you didn't have to go through that alone," Willis pointed out. "Even when we had each other…we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't have others to help us." He looked down at his Digimon fondly. "I think you all are the lucky ones."

"Hey," Crystal growled, somewhat offended by his statement, but not entirely. She knew what he was getting at, no matter how poorly he worded it. Willis threw an easy-going smile her way, which she responded with a small roll of her eyes and a half smile.

"Can I ask you a question?" TK asked, nodding in her direction.

"Sure," she replied, looking down to scratch behind Icemon's ears. He let out a little mewling sound in his sleep, a small smile forming on his face.

"Why weren't you there?" TK blurted out.

Crystal blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Our fight against Kokomon…why weren't you there?" TK asked. It hadn't occurred to him until just then that she was absent during the fight and it struck him as odd. They did a lot together, from what he could tell so, looking back on it, not seeing her at the battle that shaped an important part of Willis's life was strange.

"Oh, that." Crystal paused. "I disappeared," she finally replied. "Willis wasn't lying when he said that Kokomon, er, _Wendigomon_ made everyone close to him disappear. I don't even remember where I was…I remember floating somewhere. But that's it. It was like I was in a different dimension where nothing changed Time, life, everything was still. It was like Kokomon held me in a place where I couldn't interfere."

"Creepy," TK muttered.

"I'm sorry," Willis mumbled, reaching over to brush dirt off of one of Lopmon's ears.

"Willis, you've apologized a billion times since then. I've already accepted it, knock it off," Crystal told him before getting up and brushing dirt off her jean shorts. "Watch Ice for me," she told them before walking off.

"Where're you going?" Willis asked.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Crystal replied without turning around. Willis caught the slight movement of her head as she shook it in a disapproving way.

TK and Willis started laughing. As soon as their laughter died down the two laid back down and started to settle into sleep. It came to TK faster than it did for Willis who still stared up at the sky. Terriermon and Lopmon seemed to be sleeping peacefully but every now and then Lopmon's facial muscles would tense before they relaxed again.

"Hey buddy, wake up. You're having a nightmare," Willis said quietly as he lifted his Digimon onto his lap. Lopmon's eyes opened and moved around before settling on Willis. "It was just a dream, pal," Willis told him.

Lopmon nodded and looked down. "I know. I can't stop thinking about what I did before."

"Lopmon, that wasn't your fault," Willis said sternly. "It was mine. I wanted more of you guys. I didn't know what I was doing. I practically asked that virus to come and attack Diaboromon before it was finished. I should've known not to tamper with it but I didn't stop."

Lopmon gave a sad smile. "Maybe we shouldn't blame anyone but fate. You've really grown up, Willis. You used to run away before—not that I could blame you. I _was_ chasing you around—but it's admirable that you're facing your problems head on now. And I'm sure Crystal notices it as well."

"Let's hope. Maybe then she'll finally stop holding it over my head."

Just then Crystal came stomping back into the area, muttering something under her breath. Willis and Lopmon turned their attention to Izzy and Mimi who walked back into the clearing, whispering something to each other. At the noise Icemon's head lifted up and he looked at her through half-lidded eyes. Icemon flapped his wings while yawning as if ready to get up and start walking.

"Whass'matter?" Icemon asked, his voice filled with sleep.

"Nothing, go back to sleep," Crystal practically barked at him as she lay down on the ground, rolling onto her side so her back was facing them all.

"Crys," Willis tried.

"_Shut up, Willis_."

Willis sighed. So they were back to not talking to each other again. He twisted his mouth to the side and glanced down at Lopmon. "Go keep her company," he told the brown rabbit-like Digimon. Lopmon nodded and hopped off of Willis's lap. He walked over to the dark haired girl, each step hesitant as if he were waiting for Crystal to snap at him too. He crawled over Crystal's side and laid down next to Icemon. Crystal brought a hand up and scratched at his ears. Watching, Willis let out a little sigh of relief before lying down, one arm slung protectively over Terriermon. He closed his eyes and after what felt like a few hours he was being shaken awake.

"Huh…? Wha...?" Willis mumbled, disoriented as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Guys! We've got company!" Joe's voice reached his ears.

Willis jerked awake and looked around, noticing the scared looks on everyone's faces. He then turned to see who or what it was that had them so scared.

"_Puppetmon!_"

* * *

_Whew, I hope you all like the chapter. I've been watching the Adventure series again and it partially influenced me while writing this chapter. It helped me realize that while the groups were split up you still got more character development from them which is what I did here. Now we'll get into the battles with the Dark Masters which I will do my best with. Writing battle scenes has always been a sort of hurdle for me so I'll do everything I can to make it seem as authentic as possible. Please read and review.  
_

_ ~C.M._


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

"_Puppetmon_!" TK hissed through clenched teeth. His hands curled up into fists and Patamon hovered in the air close to his partner. Anger coursed through their veins as their eyes spotted the mannequin-like Digimon that had an affinity for fun before destruction. Puppetmon was sitting up on a tree branch, his strings hanging in little hoops by his arms and legs as he swung them, much like a child that had just gotten a treat. In this case his "treat" was the DigiDestined.

"You were taking too long, so I decided to come to you to play instead!" Puppetmon explained happily. He jumped off of the tree branch and landed on the ground, a few feet away from the group. His eyes stayed locked on TK's face. "And you don't have your meddling brother to protect you this time!"

"I don't need Matt to protect me!" TK replied, his eyes hardening as he regarded the sight of evil in front of him. "You're going down, Puppetmon!" he vowed.

"Ooh, I'm so scared. I'm trembling like tree branches in the wind," Puppetmon laughed, his phlegm sounding voice was filled with mock horror. "So I guess you don't want to play anymore?"

"Not in a million years."

"Oh well, your loss. Or, should I say, your _demise_?" Puppetmon threw his head back and gave an evil laugh. His laughed seemed to bounce around the forest and collide with the DigiDestined eardrums.

"Ooh! Why'd we have to run into this heap of scrap wood?" Mimi groaned while pressing her hands over her ears. "I hope he doesn't have Garbagemon with him again."

"Ugh, I don't even want to think of what _those_ Digimon would look like," Crystal commented while making face. Next to her Icemon's back was arched and he was hissing much like a cat would spit and yowl. Terriermon and Lopmon tensed as they jumped down from Willis's arms and onto the ground.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about them. I have a few others for you to be entertained by," Puppetmon said before snapping his fingers.

All at once the bushes around the bases of the trees rustled. The rustling got harder the closer it moved to the clearing. The group backed away from the edge until they were standing back to back in a circle, their Digimon standing in front of them to protect them from whatever threat that was out there coming at them. Finally the underbrush parted and two Digimon stood in a circle around them: RedVegiemon and Kiwimon.

"RedVegiemon and Kiwimon, they're at a Champion level, guys," TK warned.

"Willis and I can take care of them, go after Puppetmon," Crystal said as her eyes darted around her surroundings.

"Three Rookies can't take on all those Champions," Joe commented. "They're much more powerful."

"We just need to hold them off, not beat them," she replied, her hand clutching onto her digivice tightly. Her hand throbbed slightly by the pulsing blood and the adrenaline that was running through her veins which told her to move, move, _move_.

"Wormmon and I will help them out while you guys get Puppetmon," Ken said as his digivice started to glow. Wormmon's body was engulfed in the same bright light and, when it faded, the larger insect body of Stingmon was standing in his place. All at once Terriermon, Lopmon, Icemon, and Stingmon started racing towards their enemies.

Crystal's hands twisted together and she bit her lip while watching Icemon jumping around to dodge the RedVegiemon's spike hands, rolling this way and that. He scratched them with his claws and bite down on them. Behind her she heard the tell-tale signs of the other Digimon digivolving and that took a slight edge off of her worries but it didn't do much to calm her down. She could practically feel the tension coming from everyone else around her and it made her anxious.

She wanted to run into the middle of the fray; scoop Icemon into her arms and run away, shielding him from the battle and anything that could harm him. She wanted to take her away and protect him and make sure that he would be okay.

"Let's get 'im guys!" Zudomon growled before charging forward, each step he took made the ground quake beneath his feet. MagnaAngemon, Lillymon, and MegaKabuterimon all took off into the air, flying right at Puppetmon until he was surrounded on all sides. "Ha, we've got you cornered!" Zudomon boasted as he lifted his hammer. "How would you like to taste some steel? _Vulcan's Hammer!_"

Zudomon slammed his hammer down on the ground, a spark catching and sending a bolt of energy at Puppetmon. Puppetmon dodged the attack, only to be hit in the back by MegaKabuterimon's Horn Buster attack.

"This feels too easy," Izzy muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Puppetmon is being tossed around like a ball. This has to be some kind of trap."

Joe, who had overheard him, turned to look at the genius. "Huh? D'you really think so? He still seems to be putting up a decent fight." Joe nodded over to the puppet Digimon that had swung his hammer; connecting with each of the Digimon in turn, save for MagnaAngemon who was able to stop the attack by revealing his Angel Rod. Puppetmon tried to press down on the rod. MagnaAngemon kept his elbows locked tight, widening his stance to get balance.

"Maybe he's just having a bad day," Mimi offered while watching the fight. "I feel the same way when I miss my mani-pedi appointments."

TK wanted to tell Mimi to get her head back to the task at hand but decided against it before the words came out of his mouth. That was Mimi just being Mimi; it was her way of coping with a situation, bringing in something from the Real World to help keep her grounded. It made him wonder sometimes if she really wasn't as ditzy as everyone thought. By bringing something up from their world it could help their minds from slowly cracking under the pressure of the high risk situation.

Shaking his head slightly TK turned his eyes back to MagnaAngemon who was beginning to bend at the knees; Puppetmon's attack was beginning to overpower him. Even though MagnaAngemon was stronger than most Ultimates Puppetmon was still a Mega level Digimon. "Don't let him through, MagnaAngemon!" TK called out in support. "Stand your ground!"

Puppetmon cackled. "You're not match for me, TK! I'll prove it before by destroying your friends before you destroy me! Then you know how _I _feel!"

As MagnaAngemon fought Terriermon, Lopmon, Icemon, and Stingmon continued to take on the RedVegiemon that seemed to pop out of the ground in an endless cycle. The more they defeated the more popped up, slinging their spiked hands around to try and catch the Digimon. The rookies were having a harder time keeping up than Stingmon but they were doing a decent job holding on their own.

"Ugh! These RedVegiemon are beginning to bug me! I don't like vegetables!" Terriermon muttered after he came out of his Terrier Tornado attack, successfully knocking a few out of the way.

"And they smell terribly," Lopmon added. He sucked in a breath before shooting back and shooting out super cooled air in the form of ice crystals that rained down on his attacker. By his side Icemon's back was arched and the hair on his back hardened before shooting off as ice crystals and landed on another RedVegiemon.

"This Puppetmon just won't quit!" Ken mumbled through clenched teeth. "He must have a huge vendetta against TK not wanting to play with him all those years ago."

"That's not the problem," TK responded. "It's that he doesn't understand what true friendship is all about. That will always be his downfall!"

That grabbed Puppetmon's attention. As he continued to press his hammer down on MagnaAngemon's rod he turned his head to glare at TK. "Waddya mean?" He demanded. He freed a hand and used it to wrap Lillymon, Zudomon, and MegaKabuterimon up in red string. The harder they tried to fight it the more constricting it got.

"Friends aren't people that you use to boss around and do your dirty work," TK replied, his hands clenching into fists. His voice was hard and his blue eyes, which were usually filled with compassion, were now filled with hatred. "Friends are those that will always be there for you, will cheer you up and cheer you on in your time of need. They're the ones who will be there for you because they want to be around you, not because they're scared of what could happen to them if they go back on your word. They're the ones that will stick around and can't be traded in for a new model. You don't know what friendship is. You don't have a single friend, that will always be your fatal mistake, Puppetmon, no matter what!"

"You don't know anything! I do too have friends!" In a fit of rage Puppetmon swung his hammer back and smashed it into the side of MagnaAngemon's face. The angel Digimon was sent flying, crashing clear through some tree trunks causing them to tip over. Willis and Ken moved out of the way of one that was falling in their direction in time. "Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon lifted his hammer where orbs of energy flew out and smashed into the three other Ultimate level Digimon, reverting them back to their in-training forms. "Am I boring now, TK?" Puppetmon taunted.

"Oh no! Motimon!" Izzy cried out as he ran over to his Digimon friend.

"Tanemon, are you alright?" Mimi asked as she gingerly lifted the head of her Digimon.

"I'm alright, a little wilted,"Tanemon responded in her raspy voice.

"Bukamon?" Joe asked.

"I just need a little rest," the brown Digimon said sleepily.

"C'mon Stingmon, it's up to you now," Ken called to his partner.

"It's no use, a Champion can't stand up to Puppetmon," TK told him. "We don't stand a chance. I say we run for it."

"Haven't we done enough of that for a few days?" Crystal demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And since when do DigiDestined run from a fight?"

"What else can we do? We don't stand a chance against him," Willis pointed out.

"He wants a friend right?" Crystal asked to no one in particular. She looked over at her Digimon who kicked a RedVegiemon across his face. Icemon swiveled his head and looked over at Crystal, nodding once. She nodded in return and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She hesitated before finally taking a few steps forward. "Puppetmon, stop this. If having a friend is all you want…I'll be your friend," she offered.

"Are you crazy? He could destroy you!" Willis shouted.

"Ha! Yeah right! I won't fall for that trick! Waddya think, I got termites in my head?" Puppetmon demanded. His words were tough but Crystal noticed something hidden underneath, hope maybe?

She focused on that to try and keep herself from shaking from fear. _Geeze, you've done stupid things before but this one sure does take the cake_, she remarked internally while taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I'm not joking. I'll be your friend, if that is what you want," she said as calmly as possible.

"Why should I believe you? You'll probably just leave me like all the others have done!" Puppetmon replied as he reached back to grab the wooden cross that sat on his back.

"What can I do?" She asked. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and fleetingly wondered if they thought she was crazy as well. She was starting to begin to think so but…this was what she felt was right. It was something that her mother had taught her from a very young age, give someone a chance even if others don't feel like they deserve it. "I have a rookie Digimon that can hardly place any harm on you. I'm not even attacking you, see?" She unclipped her Digivice from her pants and dropped her D-Terminal on the ground. "I can't do anything to you. Trust me; I want to be your friend."

Puppetmon's hand froze on the cross. He looked back and forth between the devices on the ground and Crystal's face. "You…you really want to be my friend?" He asked, his voice was hesitant but it was lighter than what they've heard before. Puppetmon was just like a little kid who was ostracized by their peers. The kind that acted out just because they wanted someone to pay attention to them, someone to care…

"Yes," Crystal replied sincerely. "Ask Willis, I don't have a lot of them. I'm kinda bad at getting them so I know how you feel. I'm being honest. Here." She held out her hand. "I promise."

Puppetmon took a hesitant step forward. All around them sound quieted, like a the volume of a TV being lowered. The Digimon stopped fighting only to watch and see what would happen. Crystal held her breath and stood her ground, waiting for Puppetmon to step forward, begging with her eyes for the Mega level Digimon to take her hand. Puppetmon slowly reached out his hand, inching it closer and closer. Their fingertips brushed…

"_Spiking Strike!_"

"_Excalibur_!"

Before her eyes Puppetmon suddenly stiffened, his mouth dropping open in a silent scream of pain as two blades pierced his wooden body. Bright blue light expanded and engulfed the group, causing the humans and Digimon alike to cover and shield their eyes from the bright light. The energy made their clothes flutter in the wind that accompanied it along with a high pitched whistling sound reaching their ears.

Finally everything settled down and they lowered their arms and opened their eyes to see…nothing. Puppetmon was gone. Standing nearby were Patamon and Wormmon who were slumped against the ground.

"He's…he's gone," Willis uttered.

"For good this time I hope," TK muttered.

At his words Crystal suddenly snapped, rounding on him. "What'd you go and do that for?" She demanded. TK blinked at her in confusion, shifting his eyes to the others' direction only to get shrugs in return. "You didn't have to destroy him! Couldn't you see I was this close to getting through to him?" She punched him on the arm.

TK let out a little gasp. "I don't think you understand. He's an evil Digimon that could destroy the Digital World and our world if we didn't do anything!"

"What I understood was that he was _lonely_. He wanted a friend. I offered that to him and…and you guys stabbed him in the back. Literally!"

"Puppetmon doesn't know how to be a friend. He only knows how to destroy."

"Well maybe all he needed was for someone to be patient with him!"

"Knock it off you two! This instant!" Mimi demanded as she walked over to the arguing teenagers. TK and Crystal turned their angry eyes from each other and over to the brunette who had her hands placed on her hips, looking at them sternly. "What matters now is that he's gone and we only need to defeat three more Dark Masters and find out where Diaboromon is," she said as calmly as possible. "The less obstacles we have in the way, the better." She turned to Crystal and dropped her arms, taking on a motherly tone to her words and her body language as she put a hand on Crystal's shoulder. She said gently. "You knew that this was going to happen eventually, it would be best to accept it and move on so we can find the others and get back home safely."

Crystal pressed her lips together and looked down at the ground, letting a breath out through her nose. Mimi gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Puppetmon will be fine. He'll be reconfigured in the Primary Village. You can visit him once this is all over."

"What makes you think he'll be sent there, Mimi?" Joe asked. "He wasn't exactly pleasant when he came back this time. Do you really think he went back there?"

Mimi nodded and smiled. "Yes. Because of Crystal, I think that's where he's going." The younger girl made a humming sound before turning around to grab Icemon who had jumped into her arms. "As for now we should get going to try and find the others. Now that we're up we'll have more daylight."

"Mimi's right, let's go," Izzy agreed.

The others made noises of agreement and moved around to gather their things. Crystal took her bag out of Willis's hand and slung it over her shoulders as Icemon moved to rest on her head. "Hey," she said quietly to her blonde friend. Willis lifted his eyebrows. "When this is all over…we're going to find the Primary Village, okay?" She asked.

It took a moment but a small smile formed on his face and he nodded. "Okay," he replied.

* * *

Diabromon's scream of rage echoed through the darkness that he was settled in. All around him Kuramon bounced out as if trying to get away from him. His large yellow eyes bulged in his head and he clenched his teeth in anger. His plan of slowing them down was working but they were stronger than he thought they would be.

But then again, he was stronger as well. Having to sit in the darkness, slowly and painstakingly going over his previous defeat, his need for vengeance grew by the day as he navigated the dark spaces of the net. He was weak back then, so weak if he wasn't able to think he didn't know if he existed. And it wasn't until he found his way back to the light that he was finally able to put his plan into action.

He had to sit back and wait for the right moment to strike then, he'll do it again now.

But this time, he vowed, he would not lose.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello to all. It has been a while, hasn't it? I thank you all for those that have still stuck around and waited patiently for this update. While writing this chapter I've been contemplating going back and editing the first ten or twenty. However, I'm stuck with either changing them or leaving it. Leaving it would show, hopefully, that my writing has improved over the years of me tackling this fic however I would also like to edit it to give the beginning chapters more substance. I'll probably just go back and edit after the story is completed._

_Please read and review!_

_~C.M._

_P.S. The picture used for the "cover" of this story is a commission I got done for me from patamon-chan/picopuri on devaintart. Credit goes to her.  
_


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